Time is Evanescent (Time Trilogy Part 2)
by Zena Alexander
Summary: If it is a monster they want, a monster he shall be. Darkness consumes him. The least Thor could do is learn from Loki's mistakes. No longer is the God of Lies an innocent, misled boy. He knows what they tried to hide. He will destroy everything, or die trying. Something lurks under the surface. No one is prepared. Down comes Midgard, and afterward, the other eight realms.
1. Enter Teagan

"Tell me about yourself."

Teagan thought for a moment, searching the ceiling as if it would tell her what to say. The four security cameras put her off, as well as the mirrored windows and steel table. She felt more like she sat in an interrogation room than an interview. Teagan played with her ponytail. The interviewer broke the silence.

"Seems like you don't know how an interview works. Your name is Teagan Ariana Hill. You are twenty three years old, born March twenty fourth, 1986 – happy birthday, by the way – in a little place called Santa Fe, New Mexico to a loving set of parents with good credit history and no shameful secrets. Except for that one time your mom got a little crazy at a strip joint when she was seventeen. Your favorite vacationing spot is Angel Fire, because you think the name is amusing and because you like the solitude.

"You graduated high school as valedictorian with exactly one friend to call your own, only to watch her future get ripped out from underneath her in a car accident with your parents, tragically killing all three of them in one fell swoop. Heart broken, you disappeared off the face of the planet for a few years. Saw the world. Hated the world. Came back home. Drove all the way down interstate 25 to find yourself a new life. Wound up getting a free ride with your tragic hero backstory right down to New Mexico State University. You are currently working on a Bachelor's in Applied Sciences. You have not yet made any plans to go into any particular branch, nor have you showed interest in clubs, sports, arts, or even continuing on past your two-year. With your scores, I'm almost taken aback that you haven't applied to Yale, Harvard, not even Culver.

"Your favorite hobbies include sitting in on assorted theology classes and rousing the students with a bit of 'friendly banter' with their professors. I'm sure they all enjoy having a student sit in and do nothing but smack down all of their lessons."

Teagan stared at him challengingly, despite her surprise. How did he know all of this?

"What I want to know, Miss Hill," the man continued, smiling, "is how you managed to go from a normal, incredibly smart little girl, to a woman hell-bent on showing up every religion in existence for the sake of disproving them. What caused that switch? Was it the monotony of high school life? The loss of everyone you loved? An ex-boyfriend?"

"Okay, one thing – sir – I'm not really sure how you found all that out, considering only my identification information is on there. And I don't take kindly to snooping, I hope you understand."

"Snooping, no, no. I was just doing a standard background check." Teagan nodded, still suspicious. The man rubbed his chin. "You know you sound like you're one broken crayon away from becoming an evil villain, right?"

Teagan scoffed, amused. "Well, with the way you put it, anybody could be an evil villain."

There was a beat. She took a deep breath and sobered herself.

"Impeccable timing. That's why it sounds so misconstrued. I've always been one to doubt, to search for the truth. When I was young, I could never figure it out. I didn't have the resources available to me like I do now, to be able to use science to test my theories. I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. If I can't see it, if I can't prove it, I don't waste my time. I don't believe in false hopes. I want good, solid evidence or it's wrong. And it's not just about faith. It's about anything. I want to be the kind of person who makes amazing discoveries because I _don't_ have beliefs. Because I _don't_ have anything hindering me. But I think a lot of scientists –" she corrected herself "– A lot of scientists have the _idea_ that they don't hold a faith, but lack the means to act on it. I say so what if you don't believe in a theory, or an equation, or a god. If you're afraid to push forward with your research because it'll hurt someone else, then what good are you, as a discoverer, as a seeker of truth?"

"Even if you make that ground breaking discovery that shatters the world as we know it, what then? What about the people who have spent their whole lives believing one thing, only to be told flat out that they're wrong?"

Teagan almost smirked. "How did the world handle it when they found out the Earth was round?"

The man laughed. Teagan felt good about herself, like she beat his game. He stood, tucking a tablet under his arm. "Let's go for a walk," he said.

She stood and followed him out of the dark little box. "Where to?"

"You'll see," he said. Teagan strolled in silence through the office building. The man talked a bit about himself, his life experiences, his job, his favorite superheroes. Teagan felt like his only genuine words were that of his ultimate boy-crush, Captain America. Teagan did not know much about the hero. She thought he sounded a bit tacky. Her mind wandered a bit as the man chattered beside her, looking around the office building. It was surprising to Teagan that the campus held this many assistants, all busy, all working toward one common goal. _'Like ants,'_ she couldn't help but think. They wandered farther and farther back, through mazes of cubicles. Teagan could swear she felt the floor starting to slope downward. Was the job center really this large, to have a basement?

The man held her back. Teagan looked up, confused. He winked at her before thumbing in a six digit code into a sealed door. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the situation. But the keycode was rejected. He typed in an eight digit code. Rejected. For a third time, he typed in a four digit code. Green. A little lockbox opened up and did a retinal scan.

"Technology these days," she breathed.

"You're telling me. Some of the things Stark puts out, I need him to hand me a thirty two page manual just to turn it on," he chuckled.

Teagan blinked. "Stark. Like, 'Stark Industries', Stark? Weapons master? I didn't know he did anything other than harbor death –"

"Agent Hill," the man said, nodding to an approaching woman.

"'Agent'? Getting a little fancy, aren't we?" Teagan said.

"Sir," Agent Hill nodded, staring curiously at the young woman at her superior's side. Teagan pointed at her.

"You look exactly like me," Teagan said. "Like. Exactly. Why."

The man quirked a grin. "Miss Hill, this is Agent Hill. Agent Hill, Miss Hill. Agent Hill is going to show you around, Miss Hill."

"You're having way too much fun with this," Agent Hill squinted. She turned her attention back to the young woman in front of her, holding out a hand while remaining cautious of appearances. "Please, call me Maria. I think it'll save at least some confusion."

"Likewise," Teagan said. "The name is Teagan. Please don't shorten it or make up a nickname, they drive me crazy."

"Right," Maria nodded. They looked up at the man as if to say, _'what, now?'_

He flicked his wrist. "Go, give Miss Hill a tour. I'm going to go get these papers signed by the director and she's good to go." And with that, the man left. Teagan realized as he darted away that she did not know his name.

"Right." Maria cleared her throat and turned on her heel. "This is the first time we've given a tour to civilians. Though, I think you won't be a civilian for much longer." She ignored Teagan's sharp quizzical look. "We call this the ground floor of our sciences unit. Basically, everyone down here who needs a real office gets one. Those cubicles you passed upstairs were just the people who catalogue and sort our productivity. You don't really need to know much about them, they're our pencil-pushers. If you'll follow me, I'll take you downstairs and show you around the techies' work floors. You don't seem like a gears-and-gadgets junkie, but we have some really neat things you might enjoy. . ."

"Are you sure about this?"

The man was silent.

"Agent Coulson, are you sure about this?" the director repeated, enunciating.

Coulson straightened up and nodded. "I know it seems like a lost cause, sir, but she has perfect marks in everything we tested her for, skill-wise. She's just going to be another kid on our science team. She's got some trust issues and a couple of fierce beliefs that can piss off a lot of people, but I think we could use someone like that."

"Sounds to me like you either want to babysit or make a scapegoat."

Coulson paused. "They'll all hate her. She'll make sure of that on her own. But it'll push a lot of them forward, and strive to be better. Trust me on this."

"You didn't correct me on the babysitting," the director said tersely, staring Coulson down with his one good eye.

Coulson gave a flicker of a grin. "I figure she and Maria will have a lot of fun together."

Director Fury rolled his eye and jotted down his signature. The pad of paper was thick, but just a few strokes and one girl's life was suddenly in Coulson's hands. "Don't let her let me down," he warned. "I don't need S.H.I.E.L.D. producing super-villains, too. This is _not_ a supply-and-demand circus show."

"Yes, sir," Coulson nodded, grinning to himself. He at least accomplished something today. He thumbed through the packet. It was silent for a moment. "How close are we to completing the project?" he asked curiously.

Director Fury pursed his lips. "No closer than we were twenty minutes ago. Get your new kid on it tomorrow. Don't even give her time to rethink her life goals. Basics, then she hits the ground running. Got it?"

Coulson could not help but think of the unfairness, pushing this new addition into the heavy work so suddenly. He did not question it, however. Fury always had his reasons.

Teagan returned to her apartment that evening with a head full of questions and no answers. As she soon discovered, her "work-study" application was little more than a cover for something much, much more serious. Maria explained it to her as gently as she could, but the end result was still the same. Teagan signed off her life to an undercover government agency by the name of S.H.I.E.L.D. She could not remember what the acronym stood for; she only knew it was ridiculously long and potentially created only for its abbreviation. They owned her like a pet. They paid well. And she could still continue her hobby on the side while working for them. Perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D. was not all bad. She opened her laptop to do some research of her own. Unfortunately, her only results were found on extremely unreliable sources and contained information likely ripped from a science fiction novel or superhero comic. Displeased with her findings, she went to bed. Tomorrow, personal research would work more thoroughly on the scene.

Morning came, and Teagan was back at the job center. She briefly wondered if the entire building was a cover-up for these S.H.I.E.L.D. people. She never had time to ask. Maria joined her at the door and ushered her through the cubicles. Six digits. Eight digits. Four digits. Retinal scan. That was too much of a coincidence for Teagan. She made a mental note to test the three codes next time she passed through by herself. Maria offered her a lab coat.

"You were placed on a team of six," Maria explained. They arrived at the first room on the sixth underground floor. "You'll each be in charge of something else, so no one is working on the same task, but you'll all have the same project. They've already been informed. You, Teagan, are going to be head of research. You'll cover the theoretical proofing and testing. A lot of work won't get past you. Anything your colleague Ryan imagines up, you'll shoot him down or prove him right. Anything that has the potential to work, you'll send the files to Roman. He'll do the number crunching, figuring out what it'll take. After that, it'll filter through engineers and techies. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Teagan said, looking around the room. "What's the project?"

Maria quirked a thin smile. "Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.: Potential Energy Group, Alternate Sources, United States. Discovering and harnessing endless energy from space."

"Well, you're already bound to fail," Teagan shrugged. "Endless energy is impossible. There is nothing in this universe that can sustain itself for an infinite amount of time. However, if you mean 'endless energy' in the sense that we can feed off of something for as long as the human race survives, I can help with that."

Maria made a mental note to guard her words around this strange and potentially aggravating new agent. "And this is exactly why you're here," she nodded.

Teagan only smiled.

҉

"You called for us, Father?" Thor said curiously. Loki kept his pace. They strode together into the throne room. Frigga joined them, placing herself between her two sons. She held her head high; her eyes glowed with pride. Thor felt his chest tighten with anticipation. Was this the day that the All-Father named his successor? (It was obviously going to be him.) Odin sat stiffly upon his throne. His stature, his eyes, his face held no expression. Ah, this was the stoic presentation he offered at formal events. This was the day. Thor could not help but grin.

"It has come down to my final decision," he voiced. This was unlike Odin. There was no flowery speech preceding this. Brevity was most unlike him.

"The last thousand years, you both have been preparing your lives for this moment. You have both shown overwhelming promise as princes. I hope that lasts as King. I have not overlooked obvious flaws; there will always be things you need to work on about yourself and how you care for your kingdom. Thor, Loki, there is no harder decision for a king. . . for a father to make."

Odin looked to his wife. Frigga smiled at him reassuringly. He clenched his jaw. Loki was surprised; it had been some time since Odin showed a sign of weakness in his formalities.

"I expect you to rejoice, but remember your brother beside you. He has been with you all your life. He will continue to be beside you if you allow him to be. Do not be selfish. Do not be a fool. This is the most crucial time, between all of us and with the rest of the nine realms."

Odin closed his eyes.

The brothers stared intently, each clinging desperately to their hopes.

Odin opened his mouth.

Thor beamed.

Loki nodded.

҉

"King Laufey."

"Traitor," the king murmured in his hoarse chuckle.

A handful of foot soldiers accompanied the traitor. He was no longer bound and dragged, though they brandished their ice weapons openly. The traitor looked around the fallen fortress. How did they continue to live like this, after an entire millennium? Was it an ever-present reminder of their hatred for the Asgardians? Of course it was. But they would not have to wait much longer. Soon, they would have what they desired. The traitor quirked a grin.

"The time has come on Asgard. Odin has held council with his sons."

The Jotun King leaned forward on his knees, interest piqued. "So soon? And yet it is not soon enough."

The traitor grinned, white teeth gleaming in the bitter darkness. "Indeed. And you may delight in hearing that the brash prince will be the one to take the throne."

A deep rumble crept through the soldiers, sweeping over them like an infectious wave until Laufey himself erupted with the eerie racket. It sent chills down the traitor's spine. The laughter rose until the whole of Jotunheim reverberated with shrill howls of laughter. They banded for the promise of war, of bloodshed, of glory. They knew the brash prince was nothing but a foolhardy boy. He was a warrior born and bathed in blood. The Jotuns had only to wait for the word. They could repossess their weapon of winter, and thus reclaim their prize.

Midgard.

King Laufey stood and went to the traitor. The foot soldiers gave their ruler a wide berth. Despite being surrounded by enemies, the traitor suddenly felt very alone. Vulnerable.

"Disperse," he ordered.

The foot soldiers dispersed.

The traitor felt _very_ alone.

"Tell me," Laufey murmured. Sending his warriors away was hardly to keep from eavesdropping. Laufey's horrid voice carried no matter how quietly he spoke. "This time, Traitor, you must tell me. Who are you? What sort of man are you? What are you after?"

The traitor thought quietly, a smirk playing about his lips. "There is no benefit in revealing myself. There is only benefit in ruining the brash prince's future. Cast him from his perch like a dog. Let him crawl out of the mud with his cape over his head. Odin has birthed no worthy sons. Befitting."

Laufey let out a quick laugh. "Such harsh words, Traitor. You have no respect for the realm you hail from. What brought about this hatred for your king and prince?"

The traitor shook his head. "The All-Father is nothing but a liar and a thief. His treasure room is full of his trophies of ruining the lives of others. Is it not fair that he receives the same punishment? That his son feels shame for the first time in his life?"

Laufey hardened. "We were the most majestic of the races, when we wielded the Casket. The most feared. The most respected. The Aesir dreaded us; we aimed to take Midgard for ourselves, and they initiated war. Odin was a mess. His wife was on Asgard birthing his son. He feared us only for his child's sake. He stripped us of our power. Humiliated me. The Jotun race. And then, to pry at a gaping wound, he stole a child. A child left for Death, small and unable to carry on the Jotun name. I wonder how that child, left in the ice to die easily, without pain, was tortured and murdered. The Aesir King likely ruined it for the sake of his own stress relief. What do you make of that, Traitor? How do you feel about that?"

"I feel nothing, glorious king. Jotuns are not revered for their sentiment."

The Jotun King was silent. Thoughtful. "If the brash prince is removed, what of the Queen? And the other prince?"

"You fear a woman and her weak son?"

King Laufey flashed a dangerous smile. "If you say this, you are as brash and blind as Thor."

The traitor curled his upper lip in disgust.

_23:04_

_10.3.14_


	2. Of Crowns--

The several months between Odin's announcement and the eve of Thor's coronation were somehow too slow and yet too fast. Thor was bestowed an unbelievable gift: Mjølnir, the hammer forged in the heart of a dying star. Odin did not fail to mention it was the same star from which the Tesseract originated. Loki thought it ironic that his brother would be gifted such a thing. He also wondered how Mjølnir's birth was logically possible. When the star combusted, it destroyed everything. No one would have been alive to forge it. Even the gods could not keep up with their own mythology. Thor, however, was unconcerned. He ruthlessly tormented his younger brother with the hammer. The weapon could only be brandished by what it deemed to be worthy. What made _Thor_ worthy? Did it have a conscience? A personality? It obviously had a twisted sense of humor.

It drove Loki mad to see his brother lavished so richly. This was always their fate, though. The crown prince was bathed in treasures before he even felt the gilded title caress him. Where was Loki's praise and adoration? What praise did he deserve? What had he done? Not enough. The servants and maids who flocked to the mighty prince shied away nervously from Loki. Funnily enough, it almost hurt. Almost.

Thor did not heed Odin's words. He flaunted that hammer with an arrogant smile. The more he wielded Mjølnir, the cockier he became. The cockier he became, the more the brothers fought. The more the brothers fought, the more Thor wielded Mjølnir. The more he wielded Mjølnir, the cockier he became. It was an endless cycle. So how was it that Thor managed to evolve into someone so strange? Already, he seemed older some days. When the council called for him, when he joined his father in observing the troops. But then, some days he seemed to regress back into the stages of childish mentality. He was always there, Loki reminded himself.

Loki soon learnt the weight of the hammer, as well. Thor would not have any of Loki's nagging; he set the hammer atop his brother's chest and walked away. Armorless, the raven haired prince felt Mjølnir crush his ribs over and over, his magic doing its best to heal him. Frigga hounded Thor until he removed it. She could not lift the weapon. Or rather, she did not want to lift the weapon and find out she was unworthy. Loki suspected that if his magic ever ran out, and Frigga was not there, he would have a hammer-shaped hole cut out of his lungs. Wouldn't that amuse the commoner children?

The evening of the coronation was a tense one. The royal family tiptoed around each other, despite their smiles and anticipation. Even Loki could not resist donning a grin for the historical event. The title of "King" was a hard one to grab when your opponents lived for a good few millennia. He tried to enjoy himself as best he could. He had a surprise of his own for the festivities. He suppressed the danger that flickered at the corners of his lips.

"Another!"

A smash.

A rise in flames.

Ah, here came the new king, donning his recently casted battle armor. It was truly gorgeous. Loki straightened his back; his armor, too, was magnificent. He delighted in his fresh gold and emerald. For so long as a child, he lived in muted earthy tones. This was exhilarating. He felt cloaked in vernal Asgard itself. But what of Thor? Silvers and blues of cold clouds and dark storms? Though, it did make sense. Loki chuckled silently. Thor still kept ahold of his favorite red cape. It might as well have been his infantile security blanket. Loki joined his brother's side at the fire pit.

"Nervous, brother?" Loki asked, grinning keenly.

Thor laughed. "Have you ever known me to be nervous?" he replied, turning to Loki.

Loki shrugged. "There was that time in Nornheim."

"That was not nerves, brother!" Thor denied. "That was the rage of battle."

"Ah, that's it." Loki nodded.

Thor bristled slightly. "How else could I have fought my way through a hundred warriors and pulled us out alive?"

Loki narrowed his eyes in thought. "Uh, as I recall," he said slowly, "I was the one who veiled us in smoke to ease our escape."

Thor laughed again. What a condescending sound. "Some do battle, others just do tricks."

A servant approached with Thor's request for another drink, chuckling at the tail end of the princes' conversation. Loki turned to him. What realm allowed their servants to eavesdrop so openly? He waved a hand at his side. The servant paled, looking up at Loki. He gave a sharp cry and dropped the goblet. Out poured three slithering serpents. Loki snickered.

"Loki," Thor apprehended. "Now that was just a waste of good wine!"

"Oh, it was just a bit of fun," the raven haired prince countered, donning an innocent expression. "Right, my friend?" he asked the servant, waving his hand again. The snakes disappeared. The servant swallowed and gave a nervous smile, but he was not so sure. Loki continued to chuckle as the servant bowed and scurried away. A soldier approached and offered Thor his helmet. Thor handled it quietly, musing over his not-so-hidden thoughts. He was remembering the night he received that gift.

"Ooh," Loki breathed. "Nice feathers."

Thor let out an unamused chuckle. "You don't really want to start this again, do you? _Cow_?"

"I was being sincere!" Loki replied.

"You are incapable of sincerity," Thor retorted.

"Am I?"

"Yes!"

There was a beat. Loki lowered his voice. "I have looked forward to this day as long as you have. You are my brother and my friend. And, sometimes, I am envious, but never doubt that I love you."

Thor softened, clapped his brother on the neck. _'What a sap,'_ Loki thought. "Thank you," Thor smiled.

Loki returned the smile, and then, "Now give us a kiss."

"Stop." The brothers shared a quiet laugh. Thor turned to the fire pit. "Really, how do I look?"

Loki turned to look at Thor. "Like a king," he answered. He took a breath. "It's time."

"You go ahead," Thor murmured. The raven haired prince looked over. "I'll be along, go on!" Thor insisted.

Loki entered the throne room. The curtains and flags blew with a honeyed wind. Cream colored taffeta floated at every woman's heels as they scurried to find their place. Golden armor and horns gilded every man's figures as they awaited the ceremony. In front of the throne, the usual suspects bantered amongst themselves. They could not contain their excitement.

"I hope this goes quickly, I'm famished," Volstaag said, checking his cuffs.

"No!" Fandral gasped in mock amazement.

"Are you attached to that pretty face of yours? Because one more word and you won't be," Volstaag replied cheerily.

"My, we _are_ hungry aren't we?" Fandral paused. "Oh, go on, Hogun, smile! You can do it. Even you, Hogun the Grim, just one smile!" Hogun offered his signature dark stare. "Alright, half a smile. Look, forget the smile, just show some teeth. Remember, we are the Warriors Three!"

"Fandral, he is not going to do it. But if you'd like a challenge, I know of an even greater one for you," Sif trilled, looking away.

"Name it, Lady Sif," he said proudly.

"Keeping your mouth shut."

Loki chuckled as he joined them. They nodded to him and the five took their places on the steps. The court filled quickly. Nobles found their places in the throne room itself; stands and floors were modified to accompany the entire realm of Asgard. Loki stared out over the sea of people and could not help but feel slightly claustrophobic. Should the palace fall, literally every single person would be crushed to death. Asgard would become a dead realm. Hypothetically, of course.

The King and Queen made their appearances and their speeches, then took their places. The horns sounded. The drums beat. And yet, no Thor.

"Where is he?" Sif whispered.

"He said he would be along," Loki answered.

"Knowing him, Thor would –"

But before Fandral could get the words out, Thor appeared in the commoners' area. They clapped and cheered and young maidens screamed his name. He lifted up his hammer. They screamed louder. He trekked up the pathway, riling up the people. It took him nearly twenty minutes to make it from the very back of the hall to the foot of his future throne.

"Oh please," Sif scoffed.

Frigga looked up at her husband. Odin clenched his jaw. His stoicism could not mask his displeasure.

Thor knelt before his king, placed his hammer at his knees and his helmet atop its handle. He winked at his mother.

She shook her head as if to say, "Oh, stop it!"

Odin leaned forward, stood; an excited silence fell over the hall.

"Thor Odinson, my heir, my firstborn."

Loki examined the toes of his boots. _'You've clearly miscounted.' _Frigga looked down at her younger son, aware of his internal argument.

"So long entrusted with the mighty hammer Mjølnir, forged in the heart of a dying star."

_''So long entrusted?' He's hardly had it a full year,'_ Loki thought.

"Its power has no equal, as a weapon to destroy or as a tool to build. Tis a fit companion for a king. I have defended Asgard and the lives of the innocent across the nine realms from the time of the Great Beginning."

_'Your father, Bor, was the one who protected from the Great Beginning,_' Loki countered mentally. _'So much for your continuity.'_

"Though the day has come. . ."

The All-Father continued with his speech, but Loki no longer cared to listen. He wandered astrally through the halls. It was much more efficient than creating a doppelgänger and turning it invisible. In the deepest part of Odin's treasure room, Loki joined two guards. They protected several appropriated rarities. Loki had not been there since his childhood. Since the morning he met – ah, he promised himself he would no longer pine over that day.

Something felt cold. An arctic chill shrouded Loki's astral skin. _'Again?'_ he wondered, remembering the last time he saw Siv – the Tesseract. And then he saw the frost creeping up the pillars.

"Do you swear to guard the nine realms?"

Loki looked up, attached to his body once more. He glanced around stiffly.

"I swear."

"And do you swear to preserve the peace?"

"I swear."

Loki bit his tongue. Soon. _Soon_.

"Do you swear to cast aside all selfish ambition and to pledge yourself only to the good of the realms?"

"I swear!" Thor bellowed.

_'You know damn well you cannot uphold that promise. I'll prove it.'_

"Then, on this day, I, Odin All-Father, proclaim you. . ." He paused. "Frost Giants."

"That's an odd way to proclaim a king," Loki whispered. Sif snapped her head up at him.

Thor stood quickly. "Father, what is happening?"

Odin clenched his spear and awoke the Destroyer with a tap of its magic. He raised his voice above the anxious murmur of the hall. "There is an urgent matter that must be tended to. People of Asgard, please refrain from panicking. Return to your homes immediately." He lowered his voice and turned to the soldiers before him. "Make sure everyone gets out safely. Frigga. Sif. You and the Three do the same." He spun on his heel; the princes followed him in grave silence.

The Jotuns tried to flee. It was no use. The Destroyer stayed true to its namesake.

By the time the three men entered the vault, the fight was over. The two guards were frozen to death with the Casket of Ancient Winters; the Frost Giants were piles of ash.

"The Jotuns must pay for what they have done," Thor growled, gripping Mjølnir with frustration.

"They have paid. With their lives." Odin looked around quietly. The princes knew their father seethed with anger; this reserved appearance was only a mask. "The Destroyer did its work, the Casket is safe, and all is well."

"'All is well'?" Thor repeated, voice rising. "They broke into the weapons vault! If the Frost Giants had stolen even one of these relics –!"

"They didn't," Odin interrupted.

"Well, I want to know why!" Thor snarled.

Loki kept a good distance between the two of them. This was not exactly how he planned his surprise to go, but it was not unwelcomed. It only added more proof. He kept his innocent expression, staying quiet lest they dragged him into the argument as well. He doubted Odin would take the jest in good manner, much less Thor.

The All-Father spoke low. It was obvious he struggled to contain himself. "I have a truce with Laufey, King of the Jotuns."

"He just _broke_ your truce!" Thor retorted. "They know you are vulnerable!"

Odin turned to look at his elder son. "What action would you take?" he asked.

"March into Jotunheim as you once did. Teach them a lesson. Break their spirits so they'll never dare try to cross our borders again."

"You are thinking only as a warrior."

"This was an act of war!"

"It was the act of but a few, doomed to fail."

"Look how far they got!"

Loki wished he could hide himself away, step back and blend into the pillars still glittering with ice. And yet, this was so amusing. The All-Father was close to bursting a vein in his temple, and Thor, Thor aimed to initiate war within his first breaths King. What fools.

"We will find the breach in our defenses and it will be sealed."

_'No, you won't,'_ Loki thought.

Thor bared his teeth. "As King of Asgard –!"

"BUT YOU'RE NOT KING," Odin snapped. The vault reverberated with his poisonous fire. He collected himself. "Not yet."

Loki would have laughed at the look of hurt on his brother's face had the time been appropriate.

Later that afternoon, Loki sat in the window of the great hall, tottering precariously over the edge. He had not done this in a while. The breeze felt nice. From up here, he could hear the murmurs of confusion as the commoners gossiped. Thor paced somewhere behind him, muttering angrily to himself. The raven haired prince quickly ran over scripts in his head. The time was approaching. If he was going to do this, it needed to run smoothly. One misstep would be the end of him. Warring Midgardians were one thing; Jotuns and Aesir were quite another.

Thor upended a decorated table with a mighty roar. Loki stood. It was time. Thor sat on the ledge, clenching his fists. Loki cautiously stepped around a pillar and went to him.

"It's unwise to be in my company right now, brother," Thor growled. A warning shot. Loki still sat beside him. "This was to be my day of triumph."

"It'll come," Loki said slowly. "In time."

"What's this?" Volstaag asked as the Warriors Three and Lady Sif approached. He seemed more upset about the upturned food than his friend's disposition.

Loki rubbed his palms together. "If it's any consolation, I think you are right," he whispered into Thor's ear. "About the Frost Giants, about Laufey, about everything. If they found a way to penetrate Asgard's defenses once, who is to say they won't try again? Next time with an army."

"Exactly," Thor agreed.

"There is nothing you can do without defying Father," Loki reminded him. Thor turned to look at his brother. Loki's face fell. "No. No, no, no, I know that look," he started.

"That is the only way to ensure the safety of our borders," Thor stated, standing to pace.

"Thor, it's madness," Loki pleaded.

"Madness?" called Volstaag, scrounging up the forgotten food. "What sort of madness?"

Sif watched the brothers carefully. Loki knew she was close to understanding his motives. He avoided her eye contact.

"We are going to Jotunheim," Thor answered.

"What?" Fandral scoffed. "This isn't like a journey to Earth, where you summon a little lightning and thunder, and the mortals worship you as a god. This is Jotunheim."

"My father fought his way into Jotunheim," Thor countered proudly, "defeated their armies and took their Casket."

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. How could he be proud of that?

"We would just be looking for answers."

"It is forbidden!" Sif spoke loudly.

Thor smirked. "My friends, have you forgotten all that we have done together? Fandral, Hogun." The golden haired prince swaggered up to them. "Who led you into the most glorious of battles?"

"You did," Hogun answered, looking away.

"And Volstaag," Thor continued, "to delicacies so succulent, you thought you had died and gone to Valhalla?"

"You did," Volstaag answered, smiling sheepishly. Thor clapped his shoulder.

"Yes! And who proved wrong all who scoffed at the idea that a young maiden could be one of the fiercest of warriors this realm has ever known?"

"I did," Sif answered, smirking up at him.

Thor paused. "True, but I supported you, Sif. My friends, we are going to Jotunheim."

The six of them gathered Asgard's fastest horses and tore their way to the observatory. The Bifrost was somehow wide enough to accompany their V-formation. It make Volstaag a bit uneasy to be the one closest to the edge.

"Don't worry!" Fandral assured him. "If you fall, you'll float!"

Heimdall stood as a barrier between the six and the observatory. They dismounted their horses and sent the steeds back toward the palace stables.

"Leave this to me," Loki murmured, stepping to greet the gatekeeper first. "Good Heimdall," he started.

Heimdall might have smiled. "You are not dressed warmly enough."

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you think that you can deceive me?" Heimdall gazed at the band before him.

Loki chuckled. "You must be mistaken."

"Enough," Heimdall interrupted. Loki bit the side of his tongue.

Thor took Loki's place. "Heimdall, may we pass?"

"Never has an enemy slipped past my watch until this day." Heimdall glanced at Loki. The prince stayed silent. This was not the time to reveal Jotuns had broken into Asgard before. "I wish to know how that happened."

"Then tell no one where we have gone until we've returned. Understand?" Thor ordered. He brushed past the gatekeeper and overseer, his friends following slowly behind him.

"What happened? Silver tongue turned to lead?" Volstaag snickered as he shouldered Loki. The raven haired prince was unamused.

Heimdall and Loki shared a glance. The gatekeeper understood. As the six battle-ready warriors gathered before the gate, Heimdall slid the sword into the control panel. Lightning erupted from the center of the room. The floor rattled as the generator rolled into place.

"Be warned," Heimdall said over the roar of the gate and its energy. "I will honor my sworn oath to protect this realm as its gatekeeper. If your return threatens the safety of Asgard, the Bifrost will remain closed to you and you will be left to die in the cold waste of Jotunheim."

"Couldn't you just leave the bridge open for us?" Volstaag asked.

"To leave the bridge open would unleash the full power of the Bifrost and destroy Jotunheim with you upon it."

_'Oh, wonderful,'_ thought Loki.

"I have no plans to die today," Thor grinned.

"None do," Heimdall responded. He dropped the entire blade of his sword into the machine. The bridge pulled the young warriors through, distorted their images as they were transported from Asgard to Jotunheim.

_13.3.14_

_17:24_


	3. --And Curses

The six looked around. Jotunheim appeared as a dead realm. Nothing moved, exhibited any signs of life. Not even the wind howled.

"We should not be here," Hogun muttered.

"Let's move," Thor murmured.

Loki, however, could see the shadows lurking in the darkness. They stood still, observing the Aesir trespassers. He found himself uneager to follow orders. Far to their left, a monumental column of ice slid down the side of a mountain. It made a great racket. Still nothing living stirred. Ice crackled all around them. It grated on their nerves.

"Where are they?" Sif wondered.

"Hiding," Thor answered. "As cowards always do."

Loki could not help but feel that jab was meant for him.

"You have come a long way to die, Asgardians," a voice hissed. It reminded the Aesir of bone shards grating against themselves.

Thor searched for the source of the voice. "I am Thor Odinson!" he voiced.

"We know who you are," the voice smiled.

"How did your people get into Asgard?" the mighty prince bellowed.

Laufey turned his head. In the faint reflection of the ice, his red eyes gleamed in the darkness. "The house of Odin is full of traitors," he chuckled.

This riled Thor. "Do not dishonor my father's name with your lies!"

Laufey stood, snarling. "Your father is a murderer and a thief!" He towered over the Aesir warriors. Loki watched him carefully, feeling himself shrink back. The others did the same – all but the foolhardy Thor. The Jotun King smirked. "And why have you come here? To make peace? You long for battle. You crave it. You are nothing but a boy trying to prove himself a man."

At Laufey's unspoken word, foot soldiers encircled them. The six held their ground, although some were a bit more unwilling than others.

"Well, this 'boy' has grown tired of your mockery," Thor countered.

The foot soldiers hardened their limbs with ice, eager to see who could strike down the hotheaded fool.

"Thor, stop and think," Loki whispered in his brother's ear. "Look around you, we are outnumbered."

"Know your place, brother," Thor snapped.

Laufey watched the princes curiously. "You know not what your actions would unleash. I do. Go now, while I still allow it." A warrior, a third the size of his king, stepped down from the broken throne. With each step, some of the Aesir felt smaller and smaller.

"We will accept your most gracious offer," Loki bowed. He did not care how his brother seethed.

Thor glared at Laufey; the king narrowed his eyes.

"Come on, brother," Loki murmured.

Thor turned on his heel with a hiss. "Run back home, little princess," the warrior jeered.

"Damn," Loki said flatly. Thor grinned. The others shook their heads. The warrior met Mjølnir and was sent flying into the base of Laufey's throne.

"Next?" Thor asked cheerfully. At once, the Aesir warriors were stormed. Frost Giants threw themselves upon the trespassers; it was hard to keep up. Everything happened so quickly. While the others engaged in close combat, Loki found it difficult to pull away from the thick of the battle. He was a mid-range fighter. Long-range if he was lucky. His daggers could only be thrown so far. Even with his deadly accuracy, it was hard to keep the Jotuns at bay.

Laufey stood, overlooking the destruction.

"At least make it a challenge for me!" Thor taunted.

"Are you mad?" Fandral called out.

Thor did not hear him. Laufey summoned more of his beastly warriors. They roared as they jumped into the fray. Thor mocked. He faced off against one giant with a particularly hard head; the beast sent him flying with a headbutt. Thor righted himself. "That's more like it," he nodded, amused. He threw Mjølnir; it smashed through the Frost Giant's head.

A beast roared as it charged for the raven haired prince. Loki looked behind him. All that fighting to break away pushed him close to the edge of the landing. He faced the Jotun as it barreled toward him; smiled as he vanished into a cloud of golden smoke. The Jotun tumbled down. Loki stepped out from behind a boulder, retrieved one of his doppelgängers, and sought higher ground.

"Don't let them touch you!" Volstaag warned.

Loki was too busy to ask why; he stabbed a Jotun in the gut with his knife. The daggers had been lost in the fight. The Jotun grabbed Loki by the arm as it collapsed to the ground. His armor pieces crumbled away. Loki expected to feel icy pain shoot through his arm. Instead, his limb turned blue like a Jotun. Was this Volstaag's fate as well? Loki's opponent looked up in wary confusion. It seemed this was not normal. The raven haired prince wasted no time in finishing it off. He drew his attention back to his arm. It faded back into white Aesir flesh. What was happening to him?

Behind him, Fandral shouted in pain. A Jotun's magic stabbed him through the heart. Loki threw his knife into the beast's neck. He was weaponless.

"Thor!" Sif called. Thor did not turn.

"We must go!" Loki bellowed.

"Then go!" the golden haired prince replied. He threw Mjølnir; it blasted its way through eight Frost Giants.

The Jotun King grinned to see the Aesir beg their crown prince to return home. Laufey awoke an Ice Beast.

"Run!" Volstaag cried.

"Thor!" Loki shouted. Thor refused to follow. As the Ice Beast galloped toward the retreating Aesir warriors, Loki pulled down a pillar with his magic. It slowed the Beast but did not stop it. A wave of Thor's lightning ripped through the ledge. The Ice Beast fell. They could feel it running underneath them; the ledge was hollow.

"Heimdall!" Volstaag roared, "Open the bridge!"

But the bridge did not open. The Ice Beast's clawed hand gripped the ledge as it pulled itself up. It roared an ugly roar. The Aesir warriors uttered their final prayers. The Beast opened its mouth, readied to lunge, stumbled back. Thor came crashing through the back of its throat. It was all the same; he would have smashed through its teeth, too. The Beast fell dead, showing off its hideously gaping hole before it slid off the ledge. Thor turned, grinning. He was met with an entire Jotun army standing ready to take him down. They stormed; a bolt of light stopped them. Odin came down in his battle armor, Slepnir rearing back.

"Father!" Thor shouted happily, "We'll finish them together!"

"Silence!" Odin hissed.

Thor froze; Loki looked up in shock. Despite the near-fatal experience, the raven haired prince was relieved Odin now saw the dangers of crowning Thor.

Laufey came close to the Aesir king. "All-Father," he nodded. His polite greeting did not fit with his condescending smile. "You look weary," he noted.

"Laufey, end this now," Odin said.

"Your boy sought this out," he challenged.

"You are right." Odin paused. "And these are the actions of a boy. Treat them as such. You and I can end this here and now, before there is further bloodshed."

Laufey's grin darkened. "We are beyond diplomacy now, All-Father. He will get what he came for: war and death."

Odin nodded. "So be it."

The Jotun King readied to stab Odin; the All-Father blew him back with a wave of magic, summoned the six trespassers, and retreated to Asgard.

"Why did you bring us back?" Thor growled.

"Do you realize what you have done? What you have started?" Odin snarled.

"I was protecting my home."

"You cannot even protect your friends! How could you hope to protect a kingdom?" He turned to Volstaag. "Get him to the healing room. Now!"

Sif and the Warriors Three practically ran out of the observatory. They did not want to be around the royal family now.

"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you are afraid to act," Thor retorted. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you."

Loki took a deep breath and straightened his back. Once again, he wished to blend into the background. The deed was done. Odin now knew how terrible a king Thor would have been. The raven haired prince kept a somber expression. He did not feel somber in the slightest. Despite somehow earning the nickname "God of Lies", he really only wished to seek out the truth. Now Odin had it.

"That is pride and vanity talking, not leadership. You've forgotten everything I taught you about a warrior's patience."

"While you wait and be patient, the nine realms laugh at us. The old ways are done. You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls!" Thor accused.

Odin had enough. "YOU ARE A VAIN, GREEDY, CRUEL BOY!"

"AND YOU ARE AN OLD MAN AND A FOOL!"

Silence.

Odin lowered his head.

"Yes," he whispered. "I was a fool to think you were ready."

Loki stepped forth. All possible outcomes now led to an awful course. "Father," he tried. Odin silenced him with an animalistic snarl. Loki stepped back, swallowed down the smile that threatened to break. Thor was in for serious punishment. Perhaps he faced the birdcage as well?

"Thor Odinson, you have betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!" Odin dropped his spear into the control panel of the Bifrost.

Thor stared in disbelief.

"You are unworthy of these realms!" Odin clawed out the silver disks that graced Thor's armor.

"You are unworthy of your title!" Odin ripped away Thor's cape.

"You are unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed."

Thor looked as if he was going to be sick. Loki looked between them. Surely Odin did not mean to start up the Bifrost again?

Odin backed away from his son.

"I now take from you your power!"

Mjølnir was summoned into Odin's hand.

"In the name of my father, and his father before!"

Thor's armor fell away.

"I, Odin All-Father, cast you out!"

A bolt of electricity crashed into Thor's chest, sent him away through the Bifrost. Loki stared at his father in shock. Banishment? Loki shook his head slowly. How could Odin cast the star child of the family away for this? Thor was not ready for the throne, but banishment was an unfathomable punishment to his petty crimes of narcissism. Loki turned away and went to the edge of the gate, trying to see where his brother was sent off to. Another flower of hate for the All-Father blossomed in Loki's heart, nestled between all the others.

Odin put the appropriated weapon to his lips. "Whosoever holds this hammer," he whispered, "if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." And with that, Mjølnir was banished as well.

Odin closed the Bifrost. He left without so much as a word to Loki.

_'Perhaps it's too early for me to take his place,' _Loki thought briefly.

҉

Frigga discovered through Heimdall many hours later the fate of her elder son. She stormed through the palace in search of her husband. Finally she found him on the balcony of his private bathing chambers.

"How could you have done this?" Frigga asked reproachfully.

"Do you understand what he has set in motion?" Odin retorted, turning to face her. "He has taken us to the brink of war!"

"But banishment?" the queen cried out. "You would lose him forever?"

Odin did not reply.

"He is your _son_!" Frigga's voice could not control her pain.

"What would you have done?" Odin murmured.

"I would not have exiled him to a world of mortals, stripped of his powers, to suffer alone! I would not have had the heart."

"That is why I am King," Odin responded.

Frigga felt the anger swell in her like a dying star. The pain. The betrayal.

"I, too, grieve the loss of our son!" the All-Father assured her angrily. "But there are some things even I cannot undo."

"You can bring him back," Frigga pleaded.

"NO," he shouted. How many times would he have to say it? "His fate is in his own hands now."

Odin left. Frigga waited until he was several rooms away before she let out her frustration. Her screams of agony, of longing, of loss. They echoed out over the balcony, out over the air, out over the tops of every building. It sent shudders down the spines of every commoner below. Even Frigga knew, that, unless by some miracle Thor corrected his ways, she would lose another son forever. "Both children of my blood are dead now," she whispered ruefully.

_'There is still hope,'_ she promised herself. _'There is always hope.'_

Frigga dried her eyes and sought out Loki.

The raven haired prince stared after his mother in confusion. What did she mean, both children of her blood? Loki halted his astral wandering, returning his full attention back to his own body. The raven haired prince stood a distance away from Thor's friends. They muttered about Thor's banishment. Loki swallowed hard, stared at his palm. It still remained its normal fleshy white.

"How did the guard even know?" Volstaag asked.

"I told him," Loki announced flatly, turning to the four.

"What?"

Loki lowered his gaze. "I told him to go to Odin after we'd left. He should be flogged for taking so long." It was difficult to act somber over a matter he did not care about; he struggled to keep terrible thoughts from brewing in his mind. Surely, he was jumping to the wrong conclusion. "We should never have reached Jotunheim."

"You told the guard?" Volstaag roared.

"I saved our lives," Loki responded quietly. "And Thor's. I had no idea Father would banish him for what he did." That much was certainly true, at least.

Sif stood quickly. "Loki," she pleaded. This was unlike her, below her. Loki watched her curiously. "You must go to the All-Father and convince him to change his mind."

"And if I do, then what?" Loki asked. He could not do it, anyway. Odin would not listen to his own wife. "I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is. He is arrogant. He is reckless. He is dangerous. You saw how he was today."

The four could not deny Loki was right.

"Is that what Asgard needs from its king?" Loki stormed away.

Sif took a few steps to follow him, but stopped herself. She bit the inside of her cheek. "He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he has always been jealous of Thor," she whispered. How many tales had the two brothers poured into her? She could see through their words as well as Frigga.

It ate at his mind much quicker than any other strange words Loki had come across. Was there something else he did not know? Loki felt that if he was not answered, he would go mad immediately. He practically ran to the weapons vault. The place where all trouble started. Here, the dangerous treasures sat on posts. The Casket of Ancient Winters glimmered at the end of the narrow hall. Loki approached it. What was he doing? He needed to know. There were too many strange coincidences now. A strange apprehension gripped him. He had to console it. Had to rid himself of it. This was the only way.

He picked up the Casket.

Loki's mind reeled with questions, with pleas; every gear of his brain jammed as he held the awful weapon. His fingers turned blue. Jotun blue.

"Stop!" Odin bellowed from the vault's staircase.

Ah, that wretched voice. "Am I cursed?" Loki asked.

"No?" Odin answered.

Loki smiled briefly, in spite of himself. In spite of the dread that gripped him. _'Why did your answer sound like a question?'_

He set the Casket down. His vision swam. His breath came in short gasps. "What am I?"

"You are my son."

Loki turned. The buds of hate bloomed rapidly. He turned and faced the All-Father. His skin, though unscarred by Jotun traditions, was as cold and blue as any of them. "What more than that?" Loki hissed.

Odin did not reply.

Loki strode toward him. The anger was tangible, floated around him like a thick veil. Everything made sense. This was the second time in two years he had come to meet another horrible truth.

_''Only one of you can ascend to the throne, but you were both born to be kings.''_

_ 'It was never to be me on Asgard's throne.'_

_ ''You'll not take him from me! You, who cast him like a stone!''_

_ 'They cast me out.'_

_ ''I have never once left you to fend for yourself, to die in the cold!''_

_ 'You should have.'_

_ ''I want a baby. It does not have to be yours.''_

_ 'It was mine. It was blue. I fathered a Jotun and was too stupid to see it.'_

_ ''He stole a child. A child left for Death, small and unable to carry on the Jotun name. I wonder how that child, left in the ice to die easily, without pain, was tortured and murdered. The Aesir King likely ruined it for the sake of his own stress relief.''_

_ 'Yes. He ruined it. Ruined me.'_

"The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?"

Odin could not deny him now. "No," he admitted. "In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the temple and found a baby."

_'Left to die in a place of worship.'_

"Small for a giant's offspring. Abandoned, suffering, left to die. Laufey's son."

"Laufey's son," Loki repeated. It was not just any baby. It was the heir to the throne that they left for Death. He was the heir of Jotunheim. He swallowed, looked up at Odin.

"Yes," Odin whispered.

"Why?" Loki asked. His fear surged. His panic. He could not contain himself now. Centuries of learning control, learning how to cast aside these feeble emotions, did nothing. "You were knee-deep in Jotun blood, why would you take me?"

"You were an innocent child."

"No. You took me for a purpose. What was it?"

Odin did not reply.

"TELL ME!" Loki screamed.

"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance, bring about permanent peace." Odin did not withhold the truth. "Through you."

"What?" Loki could not fathom it – his whole existence was nothing more than an alliance.

"But those plans no longer matter."

"So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me?" Venom flooded his words, his eyes, his heart, his limbs, his mind.

"Why do you twist my words?" Odin frowned.

Loki did not twist words. He merely tore away the ones that aided those in the wrong. "You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn't you?"

"You are my son." Odin masked himself in stoicism. It did not matter that Loki could see through it. "I wanted only to protect you from the truth." In another time, Loki could have laughed.

"Because I'm the monster parents tell their children about at night?" he stammered out.

"No, no," Odin wheezed. He fell back onto the staircase. The prince was too blinded by his own rage to see Odin reach out to him.

"You know, it all makes sense now! Why you favored Thor all these years! Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!"

Odin's hand dropped. Loki came to his senses enough to see that something was incredibly wrong. He crouched beside the King, waved a hand over his face. This was the Odinsleep, was it not? He never did this unless he quarantined himself to his chambers. Slowly, slowly, Loki reached for Odin's hand. It was cold. Or, was it his own hand that was cold?

"Guards!" Loki shouted. "Guards, please, help!"

That night, Frigga passed the title of King to Loki. There were no ceremonies, no flowers, no feasts. The mother and ill-begotten son sat on either side of Odin's bed. Loki struggled to hold a conversation with her, but his vision was blue and spotty around the edges. They talked of Odin's lies, of Thor's return. Loki stood to leave. If Thor came back, how would he face this new knowledge? He would likely destroy Loki, take him somewhere remote and murder him as mercilessly as he had done to all the others. Maybe Thor would take him to Jotunheim and leave him there to be mocked and tortured by the Jotuns. Let them make fun of the runt prince they tossed out.

But as he reached the door, guards barred his way. For a moment, the raven haired prince felt a cold dread grip his bones. They were going to take him away. But they made no move to do so and a balding elder bowed before him with Gungir. Odin's staff. Loki turned to face his mother.

"Thor is banished. The line of succession falls to you, until Odin awakens. Asgard is yours." She nodded to him. Loki took the staff in his clammy palms. He swallowed hard. It was only his because there was no one left to turn to, now. Only the direst of circumstances leaned toward his favor.

In a rush, Loki tumbled over his words. He told Frigga what happened. He told her how Odin collapsed, how they fought, how he touched the Casket, how the Jotun touched his arm. He did not tell her he eavesdropped. He did not have the heart. She held him for as long as he would allow. She assured him he was still her son. Loki was too tired to argue with her. He did not hate Frigga. He only found it useless that she would still call him her son. Loki left her at her husband's side and sought out his brother.

He was terrified by what he saw.

_22:26_

_16.3.14_


	4. A Changed Man

The way they looked at each other was enough to give Loki heart palpitations.

And then Thor did the unthinkable: he kissed her hand.

The sentiment of the gesture set in stone the mutual attraction they shared.

"Look how he beams at her!" Loki screeched. "Look how she hides her bashful smile, the roses blooming on her cheeks! They stare at one another like animals in their wretched mating season! He _bows_ to her mortal companions! Look how low you have fallen, Thor! Look what you have done!"

The new King stormed about his chambers, upturning useless furniture and precious books alike.

"Look what you have done! Was my pain not enough for you? Do you think yourself so above me that you can avoid the mortal truth? She will _die_, Thor! She will die, and this spark of infatuation you feel will eat at your heart until you force yourself to drown her memories! You cannot love her! I forbid you! I forbid you to make my mistake!"

But no matter how many hours Loki screamed and seethed, Thor could not hear the man he still called his brother. As Loki watched the golden haired, the _banished_ prince go to reclaim his weapon, the Aesir King realized something very important.

And as Thor roared to the skies in his failure to lift Mjølnir, Loki took it as a sign of what he must do.

If Thor was stripped of his power, he would live as a mortal. And if Thor never regained that power, he would die as a mortal as well. Thor would have the chance to be with this Midgardian. He would have the chance to watch her bear his sons. He would have the chance to die peacefully of old age. He would have the chance to forget about his detrimental heritage.

_'This is for your own good, Thor,'_ Loki thought. He did a wonderful job of lying to himself.

Loki dressed himself in his coronation armor, sat upon the Asgardian throne in wait. He knew Thor's beloved friends would try to talk their way into letting Thor return home. And try they did. As he sat upon the throne, a doppelgänger joined Frigga at Odin's side. Another walked to Heimdall's observatory. Still another in handsome Midgardian dress sought out the man Loki once called his brother.

A crisp, white room with mirrored walls and a single chair saw Thor mute and mentally defeated. A man ordered Thor to stay where he was. Loki stepped in as the mortal stepped out.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed, perking up slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you," the new King murmured. He lowered his head.

"What's happened?" Thor asked. Dread crept up the walls of his throat. "Tell me, is it Jotunheim? Let me explain to Father."

"Father is dead," Loki spoke.

Thor's shock made Loki wonder briefly if the banished prince understood his words at all. "What?" Thor choked out. The pain on his face made it all the harder for Loki to follow through with his plan. Those sad eyes, the eyes Loki taught him how to create, were genuine. Powerful.

"Your banishment, the threat of a new war, it was too much for him to bear. You mustn't blame yourself. I know that you loved him. I tried to tell him so, but he would not listen."

Thor dropped his head.

Loki saw his chance. "It was so cruel to put the hammer within your reach, knowing that you could never lift it. The burden of the throne has fallen to me, now."

Blue eyes rose with a glimmer of hope. "Can I come home?"

"The truce with Jotunheim is conditional upon your exile."

"Yes, but couldn't we find a way –"

"Mother has forbidden your return."

The words hit Thor harder than Loki had anticipated. _'Good,'_ he thought. _'Stay here. Do not beg me to come back any more.'_

"This is goodbye, Brother," Loki murmured. The word felt strange now on his tongue. He knew the truth. Knew that word was unfit for use. "I'm so sorry."

"No." Thor shook his head. A single tear betrayed the desire to contain his emotions. "I am sorry. Thank you for coming here."

Loki's façade softened for only a moment. "Farewell," he said. He turned slowly, sighed, disappeared.

"Goodbye," Thor whispered.

But Loki was not entirely gone from this realm. As mortals in white suits scuttled around the perimeter, the Aesir King reached out as he walked past, curious to see if the hammer would accept him. He was worthy now, was he not? He saved Thor from four thousand years of pain. But Mjølnir did not think so. Loki pulled a bit harder. Surely his act of heroism measured up to whatever Thor had conjured to be worthy in the first place. But alas, the weapon would have none of him. Loki smirked in annoyance, vanished.

Through the Bifrost came a doppelgänger to Jotunheim. Loki was alone, weaponless, and very much undisguised. He traversed the halls of the fallen fortress. Frost Giants gave him berth, though they stared in amazement at his boldness. This was the weak Aesir prince, was it not? They knew nothing of Odin's collapse.

"Kill him," Laufey said simply.

Loki shook his head in amusement. "After all I've done for you?" he responded. In a flash, he revealed his Jotun guise, the Traitor; it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

"So you are the one who showed us the way into Asgard," Laufey murmured.

"That was just a bit of fun, really," Loki shrugged. "To ruin my brother's big day." The coldness of his eyes could not be masked by even him. How should he act before his true father, the vilest Frost Giant of them all? And still, _still_, Loki felt tiny in comparison. "And protect the realm from his idiotic rule for a while longer."

"I will hear you," the Jotun King murmured, leaning forward.

Loki eased toward him slowly. "I will conceal you and a handful of your soldiers, lead you into Odin's chambers, and you can slay him where he lies." Oh, if they only knew their fate.

"Why not kill him yourself?"

Loki smirked. "I suspect that the Asgardians would not take kindly to a king who has murdered his predecessor. Once Odin is dead, I will return the Casket to you –" Laufey stood quickly – "and you can return Jotunheim to all its, ah . . . glory."

"I accept," Laufey hissed.

Loki returned to Asgard through the Bifrost. Heimdall stood at the control panel, steely glare cast in his direction. "What troubles you, gatekeeper?" Loki asked.

"I turned my gaze upon you in Jotunheim, but I could neither see nor hear you. You were shrouded from me, like the Frost Giants that entered this realm."

"Perhaps your senses have weakened after your many years of service," Loki offered.

"Or perhaps someone has found a way to hide that which he does not wish me to see," Heimdall challenged.

The new King smirked inwardly. _'You finally see.'_ Loki collected himself. "You have great power, Heimdall. Did Odin ever fear you?"

"No."

"And why is that?"

"Because he is my king, and I am sworn to obey him."

"He _was_ your king," Loki corrected, "and you are sworn to obey me now. Yes?"

"Yes," Heimdall answered slowly.

Loki turned to leave. "Then you will open the Bifrost to no one until I have repaired the damage that my brother has done."

But the doppelgänger vanished halfway across the bridge. The true Loki stood at the balcony of the bath hall. It was a regrettably unused feature that offered a beautiful view yet provided no real service when attached to a _bathing_ room. Despite feeling accomplished in saving Thor, he still could not stand the idea that, once again, Thor was the one who received the best. The new King shook his head slowly. He had no time to worry over Thor's heart any longer. As far as Loki was concerned, the banished prince was already dead. He had other things to prepare for. Like the Jotuns, for example. Oh, he had great plans for them. All of them.

In the distance, a jet of light crackled into the sky. Loki's head snapped up. He gripped Gungnir so hard his knuckles crunched in their sockets. Someone, or, many someones dared cross the Bifrost. Loki had a feeling he knew exactly who they were. They were going to tell Thor everything. Loki did not have to spy to know. So the new King, in fervency, awoke the Destroyer and sent it down to Earth. If the Warriors Three and their shield maiden were so keen to commit treason against him he would be as keen to turn them to dust. "Ensure my brother does not return," he ordered it. "Destroy everything."

Again, Loki trekked to the observatory. His anger carried him much faster than his usual foot pace.

Heimdall stood protectively outside the mouth of the golden sphere.

"Tell me, Loki. How did you get the Jotuns into Asgard?"

Loki sneered. "You think the Bifrost is the only way in and out of this realm? There are secret paths between the worlds to which even you, with all your gifts, are blind. But I have need of them no longer, now that I am king. And I say, for your act of treason, you are relived of your duties as Gatekeeper and no longer citizen of Asgard!"

Heimdall might have smiled. "Then I need no longer obey you."

As the exiled overseer drew his sword, Loki pulled the Casket of Ancient Winters out of thin air, blasting Heimdall with a fury so cold it froze the man in mid-swing. And that was the end of the great overseer.

Soon, it would be the end of Thor's ridiculous friends as well.

Having full trust in the Destroyer was not enough. The new King sat upon the throne, watching from the metal beast's would-be eyes. If need be, he would control it. For now, he would watch in wait. A gathering of mortals stood before the Destroyer. One grabbed something similar to an electronically modified horn and offered a wary greeting. Loki recognized it to be the same man that interrogated Thor in the mirrored room. The Destroyer opened the slats of its would-be face and blasted a few of their vehicles. A warning shot. Loki was amused to see them scramble.

The people of the town recognized the danger as the Destroyer approached. Many ran. Buildings were destroyed in great beams of fire, setting ablaze anything in the metal beast's path. From behind the smoke and cinders, an impossible band of Aesir warriors had the nerve to think they could take on the beast. Volstaag came flying at it; the Destroyer swatted it away as if it were little more than an annoying bug. It neared the portly warrior to uphold its namesake. Sif pounced on it from behind, stabbing her sword through the back of its neck.

If it had been a living creature, a stab like that would have severed its spinal cord. Unfortunately for her, it was neither living nor dead. The Destroyer spun on itself, summoning a nice large beam of Hel-fire to spit in her face. "Fall back!" she cried. Now the beast was just angered. It stomped through what was left of the town, burning everything it saw that still stood remotely upright.

As destruction rained down upon his head, Thor felt an odd sadness grip his heart. All of this pain and suffering and ill will Loki laid on the mortals of Midgard were because of Thor himself. Sif struggled to right herself behind a flimsy shield, a motor vehicle. He was a mortal man now. He was going to die incredibly soon. This now miniscule life cost several others. He dodged his way to Sif's side.

"Sif," he said, clapping her shoulder. "Sif, you've done all you can."

"No, I will die a warrior's death," she panted. "Stories will be told of this day."

In that moment, Thor was reminded of how very much he took her bravery for granted. "Live, and tell those stories yourself. Now go!"

Sif ran to safety as Thor was tossed into the air. The Destroyer knew their hiding spot. Thor dragged himself from the concrete, collecting Sif's shield. He neared the Warriors Three. "You must return to Asgard," he ordered. "You have to stop Loki."

"What about you?" Fandral asked, scuffed from battle.

"Do not worry, my friends. I have a plan." The banished prince smiled to reassure them. As soon as they left his sight, his smile faded into a grimace. He tossed down the shield and headed for the Destroyer. They met face to face amidst the wreckage.

"Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am truly sorry."

'_You can never be sorry enough.'_

"But these people are innocent. Taking their lives will gain you nothing."

The Destroyer powered itself for the final blow.

"So take mine, and end this."

Loki rested his palm against the throne. The Destroyer powered down, slumped as it let its king take over. Thor smiled briefly, proud of his brother's decision. The Destroyer turned. Swung its hand. Sent Thor flying.

'_Your life is worth nothing.'_

Thor's mortal ran to him, screaming, crying into his chest.

'_I would have left you alone, I would have let you stay with her for as long as her lifeblood flowed. It is the fault of your so-called friends that you lay dying in her arms now.'_

Satisfied that Thor had met his end, the Destroyer turned to leave.

At the corner of Odin's wearily closed eyes, a tear gathered and fell.

A bolt of lightning ruined Loki's decent mood. He turned – the Destroyer turned to see Thor wielding the terrible hammer Mjølnir. His armor, his cape, the realms returned to him along with his Aesir life. Thor was no longer the unworthy mortal. The metal beast tried to shoot a quick beam of fire into the heart of the lightning, but Thor would have none of it. Mjølnir barreled into its jaw at amazing speed.

Thor created a whirlwind above the remnants of the town. The Destroyer, despite all its strength and weight, found itself sucked into the vacuum. Thor smashed away blast after powerful blast of concentrated fire. In a final desperate attempt, the metal beast sent an endless stream cascading into the revived prince. Thor powered through the fire with his mighty hammer, shoved the beam back down into the beast's throat. And that was the end of the Destroyer.

Loki raged with anger. He opened the Bifrost to Laufey and his lackeys. Even if Thor was an Aesir again, he and his soldiers were trapped on Midgard for the rest of their lives. He would never open the Bifrost to them, no matter how sweetly they begged.

"Welcome to Asgard," Loki spoke, looking at them with something that could have been contempt.

Laufey was unconcerned. He followed the new King to the palace in silence. Nervous excitement swelled within him. He could almost take the bitter wind on his lips. Loki led the way past several guards, a handful of servants, and a watchbeast without any of them realizing that Jotuns followed in his footsteps. Laufey had to admit he was impressed by Loki's concealing magic. Even the Jotuns' purposely heavy footsteps were dulled to all ears but their own. The new King left them at the end of the hall, where they prepared to slay Odin. Loki claimed to not want to be seen so close to the room at such a time.

Laufey did not question it. He should have.

But their excitement was too great, the prize to sweet for them to resist. They covered everything in their midst with thick ice from sheer anticipation alone. Frigga drew her sword. They were back, the foul beasts! After all these years, the Jotuns dared to show their face in these halls. She would have many sharp words for them, in the form of fatal wounds. They may have tried to take her son, but they would not take her husband. She sliced down one before Laufey slapped her away. He had no time for meager Aesir women.

Laufey pulled Odin's eyelids open with his massive hand. "It is said you can still hear and see what transpires around you. I hope it's true, so that you may know your death came at the hand of Laufey." The Jotun King drew his ice blade high.

A blast of searing hot magic scarred the Frost Giant's back.

From the doorway, Loki wielded Gungnir defensively. "And your death came by the son of Odin," he hissed.

Laufey picked up his head just long enough to see another bolt of hot magic sear him to ashes.

"Loki," Frigga struggled out as she picked herself from the floor. "You saved him." She wrapped her son up in her arms, so grateful that despite Loki's displeasure in Odin, he still saved him from death.

"I swear to you, Mother, that they will pay for what they have done today."

"Loki," Thor bellowed from the doorway.

The new King looked up with something akin to annoyance.

"Thor!" Frigga exclaimed, running to embrace Thor as well. "I knew you would return to us."

The two men shared a disgusted look for each other.

"Why don't you tell her how you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends, to kill me?" Thor asked, drawing near to the man who stood where Thor should have stood.

"What?" Frigga whispered.

"Why, it must have been enforcing Father's last command," Loki said innocently.

"You are a talented liar, brother, always have been."

They stood now on either side of Odin's bed.

"It's good to have you back," Loki murmured. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim." And with that, Loki sent Thor through the wall of the room. Thor tumbled down and down the outer edge of the golden bricked palace. Frigga stared in horror after her golden haired son, then back at her raven shadow. But before she could summon any words to soothe her aching heart, Loki was gone.

"Oh, husband," Frigga sobbed into her hands.

Loki rode to the observatory on the back of Asgard's fastest horse, Slepnir. Heimdall's frozen statue of a carcass was nowhere to be seen. At this point, Loki was no longer concerned. He dropped Gungnir into the control panel, left the Bifrost open. He had never actually witnessed the Bifrost destroying a realm, but Heimdall's precautions against it ensured a devastating show. White-blue lightning cackled around the room. He could only imagine what annihilation waged on the realm of the Frost Giants. Loki froze the energy of the Bifrost. The pattern somehow drew the birch prison into Loki's mind. Despite the events, he smiled.

'_Soon, they will all be destroyed. No more Frost Giants. No more orphaned runts, no more peace treaties, no more foolish talk of monsters and winters and vile villains. They will be extinguished. And after that, so too shall I. Are you proud, All-Father? You will never have to worry about them again.'_

Thor flew to the observatory but it was much too late.

"You can't stop it," Loki hissed proudly. "The Bifrost will build until it rips Jotunheim apart."

Thor aimed to smash away the ice; Loki slammed him back with a beam of concentrated magic.

"Why have you done this?" Thor questioned, bewildered and full of hurt.

"To prove to _Father_ that I am the worthy son. When he wakes, I will have saved his life. I will have destroyed that race of monsters, and I will be true heir to the throne!"

"You can't kill an entire race!" Thor denied.

"Why not?" Loki retorted. He allowed himself the beginnings of a laugh. Thor's expression halted it. "And what is this newfound love for the Frost Giants? You could have killed them all with your bare hands."

"I have changed."

"So have I." Loki cut Thor's cheek, quick as his lighting. "Now fight me."

Thor refused.

Loki knocked him into the ground.

"I never wanted the throne!" he snarled. "I only ever wanted to be your equal!"

"I will not fight you, Brother!" Thor bellowed.

"I'm not your brother. I never was."

"Loki, this is madness!"

Loki shook with anger, bared his teeth. "Is it madness? Is it? _Is it?_"

Thor looked on remorsefully.

"Come on. What happened to you on Earth that turned you so soft? Don't tell me it was that woman!"

And in those hateful words, in Loki's tearful eyes, Thor finally understood what he had done that tore his brother into this wretched mess.

"Oh," Loki hissed, "It _was_! Well, maybe, when we're finished here, I'll pay her a visit myself!"

Thor would not let harm come to Jane Foster. If a battle with his clouded brother would save her, then a battle he would give. He roared as he jumped at Loki, a sound so flooded with pain it could have been a cry. They fought before the Bifrost, landing heavy blows against each other. It hurt Thor more to strike Loki than it did to feel Loki strike him back. They burst from the wall of the observatory, landing on the narrow bridge.

"Thor!"

Loki slid off the edge, gripped it tightly. His anger subsided long enough to feel the fear of falling from such a height. Thor drew near. "Brother, please," Loki whispered. Thor sighed and bent to help him up. He should have known it was a trick. Behind him, Loki cackled as he stabbed into Thor's armor with the spear, created a hundred doppelgängers to overwhelm the mighty prince.

"Enough!" Thor shouted, sending them all away with a great explosion of lighting. Only one remained. Thor stood over him. Loki looked up, curious to see if Thor would have the strength to land the finishing blow. Instead, he set the hammer down on that unruly brother's chest and walked away.

As Loki struggled to remove the awful hammer, Thor found himself being dragged toward the Bifrost. The power was uncontrollable.

And yet Loki still had the gall to sneer remarks.

"Look at you, the Mighty Thor, with all your strength. And what good does it do you now, huh?" he shouted. The hammer pressed heavily into his ribs; he struggled to breathe. "Do you hear me, _Brother_? There's nothing you can do!"

But there _was_ something, and, as much as it pained Thor, he knew he had to do it.

He summoned Mjølnir back into his hand. Took a deep breath. Began to destroy the bridge.

Loki sat up in shock. "What are you doing?"

Thor gave no answer.

"IF YOU DESTROY THE BRIDGE, YOU'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN!"

Thor knew all too well. But he also knew that if the Bifrost was not silenced, she would die. It would destroy Jotunheim and move on to other realms.

Loki had to stop him. He could not let Thor do this. How could he abandon his love for the sake of Loki's actions?

'_No more.'_

Loki stood.

"Forgive me, Jane," Thor begged. He raised Mjølnir for the final blow; Loki was too slow to stop him. The power of the shockwave shattered nearly half the length of the great bridge. The observatory fell into the inky black sea. Thor grabbed his brother, but could not reach the shattered edge of the bridge as he fell past. They were going to die together in this wretched battle over hearts.

Much to Thor's surprise, Odin caught him by the ankle.

"I could have done it, Father!" Loki shouted up to him. "I could have done it! For you!"

'_I could have been the worthy son!'_

"For all of us!"

But Odin was a wise and tired king. He knew what darkness lied in Loki's heart. He knew war was imminent now, not by Thor's hand, but by Loki's. He would never change. He would never be fit to rule. He was ruined. And Odin knew it was his fault.

"No, Loki," he whispered.

The gleam in Loki's eyes changed. He suddenly seemed so hollow, so lost. Odin narrowed his eye in what could have been worry.

But Thor was much closer to Loki, literally and figuratively. He knew the loss of light was the sign that Loki had given up. He held no respect for himself anymore. He was content to be called unworthy.

"Loki, no!" Thor said, trying to reach for him with his other free hand.

But it was much too late for any of them. Loki let go and fell into the abyss.

"NO!" Thor screamed. His tears trailed after his poor brother into the emptiness of space.

"No," Odin whispered. But even in his sorrow, he could not find it in himself to cry.

The last thing Loki saw as he drifted through the stars was Siv's face. She blinked back her tears and held his face in her hands, as though he only laid his head in her lap. She cradled him in her arms, and with her silent words, Loki died.

_17:32_

_25.3.14_


	5. The Slave

At least, Loki thought himself dead. He _should_ have been dead. Why wasn't he dead?

He kept his eyes shut and his breath shallow. He tried to take in as much of his surroundings as he could. It was dark. Very dark. There was no breeze. The ground under his face was made of sharp and porous rock. The air smelled faintly of rotting flesh. Things clicked in the distance. Nothing drew close to him, at least. Loki allowed himself to open one eye. He was not bloody, not battered, not even a little scuffed. He still did not move. He felt _very_ cold. How many hours had he been laying here? How many days? _Why was he alive?_ When he fell through the edge of the atmosphere he should have imploded on himself. He should be a blob of unidentifiable bits floating on through the endless branches. He tried to remember the events of the night.

The Destroyer.

"You can't kill an entire race!"

The Bifrost.

"No, Loki."

Loki's stomach lurched; he would have heaved if it did not threaten his safety.

And then they found him.

Loki was surprised that they snuck up on him so. He pulled himself up, glared defiantly. They were soldiers, the expendables of their race. He had nothing to fear. Nothing at all. They clicked and chattered and pointed their weapons at him. Loki eyed the design. He had seen this before. Somewhere on Midgard, with the madmen.

"I see you failed in taking over Midgard," he tried.

They reared as if slapped. So they understood him.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I demand to speak with your leader."

The grotesque beings seemed to laugh, but Loki wasn't quite sure. They could have been crying, or insulting him. But they gathered around, prodding him in the upward direction. Loki soon learned his fall was broken by an unforgiving asteroid that housed an unforgiving race. They called themselves the Chitauri. They were shapeshifters. They existed to destroy. The raven haired prince began to see there was no outcome where he would not be at least slightly tortured by these repulsive thugs. They introduced him to The Other. Loki found it incredibly hard to refrain from mockery. The Other was just as ugly as the beasts he led, and more vicious. Loki bit his tongue, taking only so much of the verbal abuse. Finally, he snapped.

"I was a King! I was succeeded by a criminal, an arrogant warrior!"

The Other found amusement in Loki's anger. He relayed this information to his own master. In the meantime, the Chitauri strung him up to the face of a sharp cliff: a theatre cut from the asteroid for demonstrations such as these. They only nicked his cheek, drew blood that striped his pale complexion. When The Other announced that his master had "no use for a sniveling whelp", things fell out of Loki's favor. The Chitauri flogged the clothes from his chest. They bored holes through his skin and let scaly worms into his body. They lit his fingernails on fire. They pulled the hairs from his scalp by the handful.

Loki refused to scream. He instead shouted promises. "I will help you take over Midgard! I will help you lay waste to your enemies! I will help you hunt down whatever it is that you seek!" But they did not listen, nor did he expect them to. To their ears, Loki begged for release. He only sought to find what they were after. Surely they did not live on this rock because they found it comfortable.

They made him swallow hot coals. They pried open his old bilgesnipe scar.

Still Loki refused to scream.

It wasn't until they muzzled him that he started to fear for his life. They cut open his chest with delicate precision. They brought forth a scepter. Loki blanched.

He tried desperately hard to talk around the muzzle. Thin spikes cut into his lips like an iron maiden. His ribcage was exposed. His heart beat wildly in the clammy air. If he touched that staff, he would be lost forever. He could not overpower it like the Aesir warrior from the tales of old. He would become– he w–

They shoved the scepter's blade edge into his lungs. Loki was suddenly submerged in blackness like ink in water. Dull waves crashed in his ears, over his senses. He was drowning. The blood bubbled in his muzzle, seeped through the cracks. They shoved the scepter in deeper until the cursed gem touched his heart. Everything stopped inside of him. If it was dark before, his entire being was absorbed by the silence, the coldness.

_'I know what lies in your heart.'_

Siv stood before him, tattered and hollow. Her voice was distorted. Her body twisted in weird, impossible, unnatural angles. Those eyes glowed so bright they looked sickly.

_'I know what vengeance you seek. I know what evils you have committed. I know what you want more than anything. You demand attention, fame, revenge on the ones who lied to the God of Lies. You want to be the king of everything. You want your bastard father to bow to you.'_

For some reason, he could not deny any of it. He felt like it was wrong. That her words were deceptions. But they seemed comforting and truthful on her abrasive tongue.

_'Don't let them use you. You are not meant to be used, you are meant to be a king. Lead them to Earth. They seek the Tesseract. They seek my useless twin. They only have me. You have her. You know her. We can destroy everything together. Build the universe from the ground up in your likeness. Everyone will grovel at your feet, praise you, celebrate you, worship you. Give them my sister. Give them the cube.'_

The Chitauri left Loki to scream against the rock. The staff jutted out of his chest like an arrow. He writhed, contorted as he tried to eject the evil from his heart. He never would. No amount of blood he pumped out could wash the scepter from his body. The darkness took over. The Chitauri went along to their duties. All that was left was to sit and wait. Either this trespasser would die, or be contaminated with enough evil for the masters to control. The Other watched Loki curiously from Thanos' side.

Thanos looked on with pleasure.

҉

"Please, just give me a minute of your time, forty five seconds, that's all I need."

"Look, kid, I really, _really_ don't care what you have to say. And stop – _stop_ putting that thing in my face, god manila folders make me nauseous. This is the 21st century, we have touch screens."

"Excuse me for not being a billionaire like you, Stark, I have other things –"

"Whoa, hey, that's _Mr_. Stark to you. We are not on any name basis. Got that? Hey, I said get that out of my face. If I give you a tablet for free will you go away?"

"That is a very tempting offer but no, not unless it would make you more willing to pay attention."

"I would be opposed to looking at your 'research' no matter how you present it. I'm not exactly up for helping some religion-hating pessimist make baking soda volcanoes in my basement. Find someone else to endorse you."

"I'm not looking for an endorsement, I want to talk to you about something you already have a hand – a chest in."

"Look. I understand. You're a fan. I get it. But sweetie, here's the thing: I'm not interested. I don't want to partner up. I don't want to have a tea party. I don't want you stealing my thunder. This baby generates me and my home, not missiles that strike things out of the sky."

"You used to strike everything _else_ out of the sky –"

"Oh, would you look at that, sixty seconds are up and I am still not convinced. Go get some fries and a milkshake, kid, you need a smile. Toodaloo."

"Stark – Mr. Stark!"

"Nope, bye!"

Teagan Hill rubbed her forehead in annoyance. She wished this was not a common reaction.

"Don't take it so hard," a woman said.

Teagan turned on her heel. "Ms. Potts," she said, lightening up a bit. "Will you give this to him?"

Pepper Potts laughed, taking the folder. "Wow, you really don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"Not really, no," Teagan agreed.

Pepper opened her mouth to speak as she flipped through the thick file. She seemed to change her mind, and then, "Tell me about yourself."

Teagan thought for a minute, searching the ceiling as if it would tell her what to say. This felt familiar. "If I did the whole speech, would you listen?"

Pepper bit her lip, debating on the consequences.

҉

"How goes it?" Coulson asked, ducking his head into the lab. Teagan worked alone, poring over countless documents that floated around her. She may not have owned any of this fancy technology, but she was more than knowledgeable on how to use it. (Thanks to Agent Coulson.) He looked at his coffee mug and held it out to her. She likely needed it more than he did.

Teagan accepted the last of his drink without even offering him a greeting or a kind eye. She mouthed parts of words, equations, curses, questions. She was rather pleased with herself; she had not intended to convince Pepper Potts to "lend" her this data. Coulson would have offered said data if she had thought to ask him. Orbs, a cube, a model of Tony's current arc reactor were front and center before her. Again and again, she kept coming back to one atom in particular. Coulson leaned against a desk, waiting for her to explain.

"This atom, this particle, it's an element that's not yet been discovered in this solar system. And by the looks of it, Mr. Stark managed to recreate it in his own lab in just a few hours. It's what keeps him going. When he replaced the palladium for something a little less fatal. I haven't finished reading but it has a lot to do with his father's Expo. Howard Stark must have discovered it ages ago. Did you know about this?"

Coulson said nothing, only shrugged.

Teagan searched for the right words. "I'm going on nothing but a very unlikely hypothesis. It's in no way, shape, or form a definitive idea. A passing fancy, if you will. But this element Stark Jr. recreated? I think it's the key you're looking for. For sustainable energy. That little Star Trek insignia in his chest powers his terrible drinking habits and a frequently used metal suit as if both were immune to the laws of energy. Rebuild that on a large scale and the untested possibilities are endless. But like I said: this is a _recreation_ of something. If you can find whatever the original was, whatever Howard Stark found or made. . . It's either a terribly done prototype or something much greater than the human race has yet to see."

Coulson sat up a bit straighter, interest piqued.

"There's still a lot I need to work out about it. I need to test these equations, I need to prove the proof. I have all the data. I just need time." Teagan pulled at her ponytail and muttered something under her breath.

"You know," Coulson started, "I gave you this position so you would give us answers, not ask questions."

"Can't have one without the other," Teagan smiled. She looked over to him.

Coulson smiled back. "I'm glad you've become comfortable with your work." Teagan started writing down a few notes for herself. Coulson drummed his fingers against the top of his opposite hand. "So do you feel accomplished finishing your second Bachelor's?"

Teagan paused. _Accomplishment_ was not an expression she would have applied to that rather useless degree. Everyone in the S.H.I.E.L.D. labs had at least one four year. Even the assistant grunts. "You made it clear it was necessary to have if I was to continue working for you," she answered.

"Will you consider continuing?"

"Is that an order?"

Coulson quirked a grin. "Maria is the soldier, not you."

Teagan briefly mirrored that grin.

"If I have to enforce it, I will. You really ought to find a career path. As long as you're giving us something to work with, you'll have a job at S.H.I.E.L.D.; to have another degree is just a safety precaution."

She was grateful to him. She really was. But spending another minute in some dull place with dull courses and even duller professors made her skin crawl. She was only valedictorian in her high school years to prove wrong a bet she had made with her deceased friend. Coulson was like a stand-in father figure. He was a good friend, a good man. Tricky, but a good man.

She took too long to answer; Coulson stood and headed for the door. "Twenty bucks says you can't make it into Culver," he shrugged.

Teagan halted. "Don't tempt me," she murmured.

Coulson left.

A few days later, Fury sent out an undercover search team to scour Howard Stark's every secret hole for the whereabouts of this mysterious element. No one knew what it looked like, how heavy it was, how large it was. Their only lead was that it glowed like Tony's chest. Unfortunately for those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, many things in the deceased Stark's repertoire glowed like Tony's chest. They brought them all back to Teagan. She commandeered Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. under supervision of the director.

҉

Heimdall stood at the edge of the bridge. He lost all of his work. His entire collection of strange and important things. His home. The observatory sat in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the sea. He probably could have recovered some of it if he really wanted to search the sea floor. The waves were unforgiving, though, and Heimdall saw no reason to trouble himself with the icy waters. He remembered his library of prophecies, of historical accounts. He doubted he could recall all of it at once to compile again. He remembered the quirky bioluminous blobs that floated around his dwelling. They were rare creatures from Niflheim, some of the last in the universe. They lived for eons on nothing but water and nutrients they sucked from the moist sea air.

But the overseer found it rude of himself to mourn those creatures when the kingdom mourned for the loss of their raven haired prince. Truthfully, most grieved because it was the polite thing to do. There was talk that Loki had committed treason. Loki led the Frost Giants into Asgard in attempt to murder his family. Loki sent the Destroyer to wipe out the human race with Thor still banished there. That all these years Loki was really an imposter in the royal court, and had long been disposed of. It was all chatter, really. The civilians did not care what became of anything as long as their lands were safe.

Heimdall returned to his Queen that night with no news of Loki's demise. The royal family continued to hope that he lived somewhere in the cosmos. Perhaps Loki sought solitude now, found it more agreeable for them to think him dead. That his "death" would ease their suffering. That he banished himself from the Realm Eternal for the sake of face. Frigga mourned more loudly than anyone, Thor more deeply, Odin more regretfully. But they all had more pressing matters at hand. Laufey was dead and Jotunheim completely destroyed. Odin's search party returned the news with nothing but death. Oracles around the nine realms came to the All-father with news of destruction, of old prophecies, of imminent death.

All this, and the time of the Convergence was soon upon them.

If Loki was dead, they could not keep hoping for his return. If he was alive, his spectacle warranted immediate displeasure from the entire kingdom. Mourning for the loss of life was a rare and sacred act. It was not to be taken lightly. Odin _wept_ for him. If Loki was not truly dead, he would have no kind words to greet his son's dramatics.

Perhaps Loki would have found Odin's stubbornness angering and amusing. He still thought of the raven haired prince as his son, yet still had the gall to act so arrogantly.

From across the nine realms, Heimdall heard it suddenly. He stood, upsetting his chair. The cry was faint, very faint, and muffled by the sound of gurgling. Heimdall tried to search for the source, but every time he got close, a strange barrier pushed him away. If he looked for too long, he became cross-eyed. Heimdall hunted for the sound for days. By the time he located the potential source, the screaming had long ceased. Heimdall saw a rock floating on the edge of nowhere, a place cast out from the branches of Yggdrasil. It reeked of blood, gushed with it. Heimdall was almost afraid to bring this information forth. Especially when he saw what had become of the prince.

Frigga immediately sent out a call to Loki's mind. She was his mother; no matter how loudly she would have to shout his name, he would hear her. He would come back to her. Loki accepted the neural link for only a moment. She saw the darkness in his heart, in his eyes, in his mind. This was not her son. This was evil. This was chaos. She saw the blood that caked his body. She saw the insects that crawled through his rotting flesh. She saw the exposed muscle of his heart, slamming frantically against his lungs.

Something laughed with Loki's face.

Frigga cried.

When Loki was completely under Thanos' influence, when he no longer had control of his conscious thoughts or actions, he was ready to be used. The shard promised Loki that he was still the one leading the way, and he believed it completely. What had he to fear from Siv's twin? They were the same entity. They were the same body. Same spirit. He trusted her. She led him like a child. Loki told The Other everything he knew about the Tesseract. He knew the girl inside of it, knew how to communicate with it, knew how to obtain its power. The Other was pleased.

Loki was allowed neural leave to Midgard to collect information. He searched for twenty years – three days? An hour? – for any signs of movement. He discovered a base in the middle of a desert. Hundreds of people worked 'round the clock to find some way to tap into the Tesseract's energy. He immediately sought out Erik Selvig, an old man he remembered Thor shared a connection with. This man was incredibly brilliant, his years filled with science and discoveries. He took control easily; this man was soft-hearted. He saw through this Selvig's eyes as their director, a one-eyed man requested his help.

_'Well, I guess that's worth a look,'_ Loki sneered.

"The Tesseract has awakened," The Other told his master one night when he was sure Loki was their slave. "It is on a little world, a human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead and our force, our Chitauri, will follow. A world will be his; the universe, yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"

Thanos allowed Loki the sceptered shard.

_21:11_

_27.3.14_


	6. Marksman and Liesmith

For many, many days, Loki sat in solitude. He was allowed relief from the Chitauri's torture. His external wounds healed slowly. He poured fire through his own body, shifted into fire itself to destroy the disgusting things that crawled inside of him. It should have been excruciating; Siv did not let him feel any of it. She protected him from pain. She served him well. But one thing that might have bothered Loki was that she never shut up. She never let him sleep, never let him rest in his own mind.

_'They wronged you. You were always the brilliant one, the creative one, the beautiful one. They hated you because you could take them down. They tried to stifle you because they feared you. They tried to punish you because you were powerful. They banished you because they didn't know your worth. Take Midgard. Take the humans and lead them. Subjugate them. Prove to Asgard that you can be king. You will be king. You shall be the ruler of the entire universe. You will be the most glorious king the nine realms have ever seen. They said you caused chaos and discord; you will remove all who oppose you and then there will be peace. Eternally yours. As will I. I will never leave you. Not like her. For centuries she abandoned you. She could never save you. She drove you to suicide so many times. She drove you mad with grief. She made a fool of your heart, and you can never trust again. She was never yours. I am. I am. Let me have you. Let me show you how to lead I can help you I can make you king I can give you power if you give me your heart give me your mind give me your attention they will worship you they will love you make them all suffer they deserve it they deserve to be destroyed they lied to you they tricked you burn murder ruin kill them all prove your worth destroy conquer let me feed on your heart– '_

The Chitauri came to collect him. His period of rest was over. Scars littered his skin, pearly and stretched tight over his gaunt figure. He felt marvelous despite looking ill. He smiled at them. This was his army. They would follow him until the ends of time. The Other came down from his perch beside his master.

"Do you remember your mission?" he hissed.

Loki rolled his eyes. Even this incongruous beast questioned his authority. When Loki owned the universe, this creature would be the first to die. Of course he remembered the mission.

"Collect the Tesseract. Open the portal. Bring in my army and give you your toy."

The Other growled. Loki smirked.

Loki gave no warning – he ripped the shard from its staff, slicing open his hand. The Other tensed; Loki put it to his lips. "Take me to her," he whispered to the bloodied gem. The air ripped open and crackled around him. A great wave of energy crashed over them all, illuminated the whole wicked asteroid with the blue glow.

_'Let me find her let me show you how she avoids you she won't come near you let me take you to her let me show you how she ruins time she is disgusted by you she hates you she doesn't deserve you place me back in the staff I'll show you what a wretch she is– '_

An explosion interrupted her, shuttling Loki from one end of the universe to the other. He saw four hours fly by him in a mere second. He saw the mortal ants scrambling to collect their belongings, evacuate, _retreat_ from their arriving king. He saw the hideously outdated technology the humans thought of as top-of-the-line.

He saw the Tesseract.

Pure energy licked at the high walls as they dissipated. Loki sat amidst what was left of the smoke, calculating the best option for collection and escape. Mortals came forth with their pitiful firearms. Loki would have been amused. Did they really think those bullets could hurt him? They could have been Aesir toys, they were so harmless. Offensively pathetic. No warrior would ever handle those. He stood.

"Sir," a man with one eye called out. "Please put down the spear."

'_Touch me to their hearts and they will see the truth in your right to rule they will obey you they will follow you they will be yours to command– '_

Loki blasted the one-eyed man with the weapon. It did not seem to work. The mortals opened fire. He stabbed one with the bladed edge, touched the gem to his heart like they did to Loki. The human was dead before the shard could take hold. Loki was admittedly annoyed. The bullets pelted his back like grains of rice. He silenced the Midgardians with his daggers to their throats. They tried to swarm him. Loki would have none of this from his future servants.

One dared get to his feet. Loki was upon him instantly. "You have heart." He touched the scepter gently to his chest. The man's eyes turned black, then cold blue as Siv whispered truths into his feeble human core. He holstered his gun. The marksman was Loki's to command.

As the man stood at attention, Loki went to others to collect their servitude. The one-eyed man regrettably still lived, and tried to secretly collect the Tesseract.

"Please don't," Loki murmured, eyeing the briefcase. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier," the one-eyed man said calmly.

"Of course it does," Loki denied. "I've come too far for anything else."

The one-eyed man turned to face the intruder head on.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki," Erik Selvig said, standing, "brother of Thor."

'_You have been here for thirty seconds and they already liken you to him destroy the idea that Thor will save them he will never come he has his plaything and that is the only mortal he cares about take this man show him your worth he is yours not Thor's you were made to rule you are his king show him so– '_

"We have no quarrel with your people," the one-eyed man assured.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki replied.

The one-eyed man was not pleased to hear this. "Are you planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings of a world made free."

"Free from what?"

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," – he took control of the old man – "you will know peace."

"Yeah, you say 'peace'. I kinda think you mean the other thing."

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling," the marksman warned. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us." He looked up at the swelling mass of energy that collected on the ceiling. "He means to bury us."

"Like the pharaohs of old," the one-eyed man agreed.

"He's right," Erik Selvig called from behind a computer screen. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well, then." Loki nodded to his marksman. Without hesitation, the man shot his former director and collected the briefcase. As they left the room, Loki doubled over himself. His stomach felt like it broiled with dread, like all those hot coals he swallowed were suddenly a fire raging inside him. The official in the suit placed a hand on Loki's back to aid him, but the self-proclaimed King would have none of it. He straightened and collected himself. He would not be weak in front of these pathetic mortals. They exited the garage to the loading bay; Loki sat himself down in the back of their vehicle.

"Who is that?" a woman asked. Loki refused to look at her. The strange familiarity unnerved him.

"They didn't tell me," the marksman answered.

The woman turned; her radio buzzed. It alerted their escape. The marksman shot at her, but she was quick. Loki's escorts drove off in a hurry, chased by several unclaimed, _unruly_ servants. Just when they were clear, that infernal woman came to stop them. Her attempt was futile. The building imploded, collapsing around her. Loki and his cargo were safe. That was, until a personal flyer shot at them from the sky. Loki was becoming irritated with this mess. His scepter, his ally was very distracting with her constant chattering, the Tesseract screeched at him, his marksman was a terrible driver – it all gave him a rather awful headache. He blasted the personal flyer with magic, sending it straight to the ground. Shots rang out as they drove away.

The silence after was a blessing.

"Where are we going, sir?" the marksman asked.

Loki snapped his head up. Had he fallen asleep? It was almost daybreak. No, no, he would never have fallen asleep; Siv would not let him. He cleared his throat. "I need a base where I can work. Underground. Many supplies."

The marksman was quiet for a moment. "I can hijack us a private plane to Italy. I know of an underground lab there. You can collect everything you need. And I can call up a few people who would be more than willing to help."

It required the most delicate precision, but the plane was taken. It was a small jet, elegantly furnished. Less primitive than the flying box from years ago, but still nothing like even the worst Asgardian flyers. Loki found himself amused with the cabin control panel, pressing buttons left and right. The lights dimmed, and a pole came down from the ceiling. Loki narrowed his eyes in disgust, knowing exactly what it was. This culture was still so basic to find this setting sensuous. He reset the configurations and roamed. There was only so much information to be found in this area. Loki learned it was owned by a man named Tony Stark. Basic personality profiling suggested this Stark was unbelievably egotistical, self-centered, and threw his wealth around like a spoiled prince. There was a large collection of liquors to be found on board, to which Loki helped himself. The bitter whiskey was a relief.

Six hours into the flight, Loki went to the front of the plane. Erik Selvig sat co-pilot with the Tesseract tucked safely in his arms. "Do we still have a while yet?" Loki inquired.

The marksman nodded. "Another four hours. This jet flies faster than commercial, but shaving off two hours isn't much of an improvement. A quinjet would have been faster, but they would have been on our tail in a heartbeat. Do you need me for anything, sir?"

Loki pondered for a moment. "Tell me everything. I want to know about you. About your allies. About the operation that was destroyed in my arrival. I need to know what I am up against."

"My name is Clinton Francis Barton. I'm an assassin for S.H.I.E.L.D. under the name Hawkeye. I specialize in archery, see better from a distance, and can take down 672 people without using the same move twice. My director was Nick Fury. Currently he should be calling up a handful of people to help him try to stop you. There's Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow. She's an assassin like me. I saved her life and brought her into S.H.I.E.L.D. There's Anthony Stark, Iron Man. He fights inside a metal suit and has impressive personality issues. He used to manufacture and sell weapons, until karma got him in the ass. Steve Rogers, Captain America. Found him inside a wrecked plane last year, frozen solid. He's a righteous guy, basically embodies all of the good-guy traits of the average American hero. And then there's Bruce Banner. They call him the Hulk. He had an accident with his science friends and it turns him into a giant green monster when he gets pissed off."

Loki nodded quietly. They could all be very useful, but it would be more fun to turn them on themselves.

"And there's one more on the call list, if you're curious."

Loki narrowed his eyes in thought.

"If Fury can get to him, your brother will be here as well."

The King snarled.

҉

"Well, what do you want me to do? I can't just sit here and do nothing. Literally all of that work we didn't rescue is destroyed."

Coulson shook his head, trying to find the right words as he blocked her from boarding the helicarrier. "I know. I know, and I'm sorry. But there's nothing for you to do here, either. All of the documents and equipment we could recover is being moved elsewhere. You're welcome to go to Culver and tag along with Fitz-Simmons and their team for a while. Just until we can get everything set up again."

Teagan curled her upper lip in disgust. "I'm coming with you."

Coulson's patience remained surprisingly untried. He was getting better at this. "When we get this guy, he's coming on board. It'll endanger everyone's lives, but yours especially. You're just a kid from the lab. You're not a trained agent like everyone else. If you come into contact, then you'll jeopardize every single person on this ship."

"Then I won't come into contact with him."

Coulson dropped his head, hiding his tired smile. "Fine. _Fine_, you can get on board. But if you spark any sudden debates or fistfights, I will _not_ be there to help you. And you can sure as hell bet Fury will have your ass parked in an office faster than you can blink. Now get on before I change my mind."

Teagan chuckled a little. His voice was so soft, those coarse words seemed affectionate. "I knew you would see things my way," she said, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.

"Sir, you're needed on the starboard side. Steve Rogers is boarding the helicarrier," Maria called, coming forward. Something about her expression made Teagan quirk an eyebrow. But Coulson's flare of excitement made her all the more curious.

"Hill, show Little Hill inside. I have a hero to meet." And with that, Coulson practically ran across the tarmac, avoiding collisions with the drill teams. The Hills looked at each other skeptically, turned, and headed inside the helicarrier.

"Us being in close proximity will drive everyone crazy," Maria noted.

Teagan donned her lab coat. "Let them be confused. It's not like we work on the same ground anyways. You're on the field, I'm behind the scenes. We're practically worlds away, as the saying goes."

"Oh no, it's Teacup," a voice called from down the hall.

The Hills turned in confusion.

"Oh, you again," Teagan grimaced. "And it's _Teagan_."

"Sorry I can't return your 'research' to you, I accidentally burned it all with a lighter before I could read. Clever, trying to get Pepper to sneak them onto me. Just for that, I came up with a whole dictionary of nicknames for you. Because I heard you love them." Stark drew near. Something told Teagan he knew she had his work. "Oh, what, there's two of you now? Humanity hated you so much that you had to clone yourself? Nice job though," Stark said, admiring Maria. "She does look exactly like you. A little taller, though, and less scowl-y. Maybe next time you could give her a personality, too."

"With all due respect, sir, shut up," Maria muttered, unamused.

"It talks!" he exclaimed.

Teagan could feel her blood pressure rising.

"Seriously though," Stark nodded, holding his hand out to Maria. "Tony Stark, Iron Man. You've probably heard of me, I'm kind of the leader of this whole dance party Fury's concocted."

Hill sighed. "Maria Hill, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."

"Yeah I can tell, you all have those smurf suits on. At least you're not in red shirts, though. Man, even you're decked out, Teabag? Wait, you guys aren't, like, _sisters_ or anything, are you?"

"No," the Hills growled in unison.

"Are you sure? I could run a DNA check really quick just to put us all at ease. At least just put me at ease, this is freaky. I really can't tell you guys apart. If you take off your lab coat I won't be able to tell the difference. You even have matching frowns – what are you doing, Tequila?"

Teagan reached for the knife strapped to her leg, grabbed her ponytail, and sliced it off.

"There," she snarled. "Is it more convenient for you now? Can you tell the difference?"

She dropped the ponytail in his hands and stalked off to the lab rooms.

"I would recommend talking to Coulson," Maria suggested after a moment of silence.

"Yeah," Stark whispered.

"_Immediately_."

"Yes ma'am," Stark said, snapping to attention.

҉

Heimdall traversed the halls silently. With the Bifrost destroyed, he wandered aimlessly. There was no place for him around here. He could not be a gatekeeper if there was no gate. He kept most of his attention on Loki now. What moves he could see, Heimdall catalogued. This was a dangerous time for them all. If Loki succeeded in whatever it was he aimed to accomplish, there was no doubt in Heimdall's mind that it would end poorly. Maybe not for the prince, no, but for everyone else.

He could see, faintly. Loki observed a crowd of mortals. They worked diligently under him, some possessed, some clean. It was hard to make out exactly what they were doing. The place twitched and trembled like it was filled with smoke, or underwater. A blue glow pulsed from Loki's corner. It was hollow and sickly. Just seeing it made Heimdall feel nauseated. Loki's form flickered and the aura faded away. Heimdall hitched a ride on Loki's astral projection.

"The Chitauri grow restless," The Other hissed.

"Let them gird themselves," Loki replied. He appeared before the gross creature in full regalia. "I will lead them in the glorious battle."

"Battle?" The Other scoffed. "Against the meager might of Earth?"

"Glorious, not lengthy. If your force is as _formidable_ as you claim," Loki jeered.

"You question us?" The Other snapped. "You question him? He who put the scepter in your hand? Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?"

"I was a king!" Loki barked. "The rightful king of Asgard! Betrayed!"

The Other hissed. "Your ambition is little. Born of childish need. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil."

"You don't have the Tesseract yet," Loki reminded him flatly. The Other was upon him instantly. "I don't threaten," Loki assured. "But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words."

The Other circled. "You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!"

And with that, both Loki and Heimdall were ejected from the astral projection.

Heimdall stumbled down the hall, clinging to a pillar. "My lord, are you not well?" a servant asked, rushing to help stand him up.

"I must speak with the king and queen," Heimdall rasped.

They soon entered the council room, Frigga, Odin, and Thor already gathered. The servant left quietly; Heimdall stood straight, though pale-faced.

"What news have you?" Frigga asked hopefully, trying not to take Heimdall's complexion as a sign. Odin and Thor were not so optimistic.

"Loki is alive, and sided with an unknown enemy. I found him on Midgard rallying scientists. They worked to put together a device not unlike the Bifrost. They want to use it to harness the Tesseract. He leads an army of Chitauri soldiers. They would wait for him to open a portal with the cube and then lay waste to Earth. Loki seeks to rule the planet. He intends to start a war. He's taking it as collateral from. . . previous events." Heimdall glanced up at Odin briefly.

"He must be stopped," the All-Father said coldly. "I will come down to Earth myself and destroy him if necessary."

"Husband!" Frigga said, startled by his sudden hostility.

"He is not himself," Heimdall warned. "The staff was found. Loki's allies have possessed him with the shard. Loki leads only because he is blinded."

But the King no longer heard his words. Heimdall looked on woefully as Odin stormed out of the council room.

"Is there any hope for Loki to recover?" Thor asked quietly.

Heimdall did not know the answer. "There is nothing else like this kind of possession. You can still talk and think and act, but there are actions ruled by something that is not of yourself. You cannot feel it. You cannot control it. They are your actions alone, and yet they are someone else's entirely. It is hard to punish for these crimes."

"But is there hope for Loki to recover?"

Heimdall was silent for a moment. "There have been accounts where a sharp blow to the head rendered the possessed normal again."

Thor left the council room silently.

Frigga remained with Heimdall. "Is this a war or is it _the_ war?" she whispered.

Heimdall shook his head. "I'm sorry, my Queen. I still do not know. I lost everything with the observatory. Nothing is left for me to look back on with those events. I hope it is not so, but, things are too awry for me to be certain it is neither one nor the other. We must always have hope," he murmured.

"We must always have hope," Frigga repeated emptily.

Heimdall turned to leave the council room.

"You know, Heimdall," Frigga murmured. She gave a broken chuckle. "Ever since Baldur's death, I have known. You need not mask it anymore."

Heimdall lowered his head in defeat.

"We were always on this path, were we not? We were always set for ruin." Frigga stood. "We were always staring down the pit of Hel." She stepped around him. "There is one book Loki stole from you ages ago. You may find it to be the last place on the corner shelf of the library, or you may find it in his room. I grant you permission to search."

Heimdall spent the better part of the night hunting for the book. What book was it? She gave him no size, no cover, no title. But as soon as he saw it, Heimdall wished he had not. He pulled the dusty tome from the shelf, glaring at its cursed leather spine. This book had no name. It was the only one of its kind, a handwritten copy of everything Heimdall sought to bestow upon the humans of old and the Aesir of the future. It contained every story Heimdall allowed himself to see with his power of the All-Sight.

This meant that Loki knew everything.

Loki knew that Heimdall could already see everyone's deaths. Loki knew that there was never to be anything good in this life for him. Loki knew Baldur's death was foretold to be his fault. Loki knew he caused the Ragnarök. Loki knew he was the end all of Asgard.

But Loki knew there was nothing about the Tesseract in his timeline. Loki knew it was never prophesized that he would meet a human. Loki saw his life was not word-for-word.

Heimdall pored over his old scripts for hours, hunting for anything. Anything that would help bring back the raven haired prince Asgard once knew.

_14:14_

_29.3.14_


	7. Capturing a God

"They left you here all by yourself?" a woman frowned, slinking into the lab room.

Bruce Banner looked up in confusion. Who was she? Her hair was messy, probably self-cut, and she pointed with a coffee cup that looked like it had seen better days. Banner shook his head, looking back down at his work. "Uh, yeah looks like. I guess they didn't need me. It's just a little round-up. I would probably make too much of a mess."

The woman pursed her lips and stared at the holo-monitor. A grid map jolted and shuddered, searching desperately for something. She assumed it sought the Tesseract. That was why Banner was up here in the first place. "What is this looking for?"

"It's tracking gamma radiation data. Hunting down the cube. Not to be rude, but, who are you, exactly?"

So it _was_ for the Tesseract. Teagan nodded, continuing to watch the map. "Teagan Hill. I basically run the project that needs that cube. One of the projects, anyway."

Banner nodded quietly. "Oh. You're young. Does everyone start young in S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Teagan quirked something of a grin. "You'll never believe how long I've been here."

Banner stayed quiet, preferring to study the same algorithms over and over again. He had nothing to do until they secured the cube. If all he was needed for was a math equation, he could have emailed it to them.

"I was there when the place exploded," Teagan said suddenly. Banner peered at her over the rims of his glasses. She hardly seemed affected by whatever explosion she meant. "When that guy came through the cube. They sent me out first in the evac because I was 'more valuable'. I couldn't collect my data in time and lost all of it. Sometimes it's hard to remember what I'm here for and then these things happen. You know, I'd only been there three weeks before the place crumbled. I got my own research lab and test facility and everything and there it went."

"I think that's the life of anyone," Banner offered. "You do a crap ton of work only to have it blow up in your face and you have to start over."

Teagan chuckled. "I think I could get along with you."

"Really," he said with some sarcasm.

"I'm changing the world, Dr. Banner, and the whole place hates me. Though, the feeling is mutual. You should be honored."

He rolled his jaw. "Okay."

"Do you believe in a god?" Teagan asked.

"What?"

"Do you worship a deity, have a faith, anything like that?"

Banner stumbled for the right words. This was a landmine of debate that he did not want to participate in. "No, uh, no. But I don't have anything against religion. People should be allowed the comfort of having it."

"Even if it's a lie?"

Banner put his hands up in defeat. "I really don't want to be a part of this. I just want to work in peace. I'd really appreciate it if you either didn't talk anymore or left."

Teagan offered something of a smile and walked out. As she wandered back to her own lab, her pocket buzzed. Coulson left her a text message. _"They found him. Turn on your screen. BIRD-0021-CAM-7836084-91."_ She shut herself in her lab, pulled up the camera, tipped her empty coffee mug to her lips.

There he was, that bastard thief who destroyed her work. A mass of people knelt before him. He cornered them all in the square. The camera shuddered. Somehow, Teagan was seeing double. No, she saw quadruple. Four horned bastards preached to this crowd of Germans in crisp English. Teagan scoffed. This was Thor's brother, the man who smashed Puente Antiguo? Even from this distance, he was a twig. He called himself a god; he certainly had a god complex. A man stood to defy him. The horned thief raised his weapon. Teagan would have choked on her coffee had she any left. She quickly zoomed on the weapon. The staff. The picture was thankfully clear, being of S.H.I.E.L.D. design. The jewel set in the center bore an uncanny resemblance to her Tesseract. The bolt he sent off made her pale.

"_Tell them to get that staff. That's got to be linked to the Tesseract and he wields it like a weapon."_ Teagan swallowed heavily and waited for a reply. None came.

The quinjet drew into view of the thief. Natasha Romanoff's voice blared over the camera mike as she presumably aimed the rifle. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Teagan thought she saw him smirk; the camera jolted quickly. Romanoff apparently anticipated his attack. Teagan didn't know he'd sent off any sparks until they whizzed past the camera. The quinjet slid back into position, trying to zero in on the horned thief. "The guy's all over the place," Romanoff muttered. Rogers and Loki tossed each other around. Teagan felt like she was going cross-eyed just watching them.

"Agent Romanoff, you miss me?"

Teagan curled her upper lip. Stark overpowered the PA system and blasted ACDC. It distracted the two on the ground long enough for Stark to make his entrance. And attempt to blast a hole through Loki's chest. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."

Teagan was somehow thankful terrible nicknames were not reserved for just her.

Loki sized up his opponents and held up his hands. His armor practically melted off of him. Teagan immediately pulled up a screen for Norse Mythology. She should have done this the moment she learned about Thor. She picked up the basic profile. Loki was a trickster of a god, a shape shifter and a con man. He got around – had at least five children with four different mothers. (In the case of the horse child, _Loki_ was the mother.) He had a knack for screwing up people's lives and upsetting the world balance. He caused the Asgard apocalypse, and was said to be chained to a rock with the entrails of his kid to be blinded with snake poison. Teagan closed the page. At least one of those were wrong. He was most certainly not blind.

Besides, the cube said nothing about this version of Loki myth.

҉

"Father, we cannot be patient anymore."

Odin sat in silence.

Thor struggled to contain himself; to be better, he had to act better, and acting was not his talent. He took a deep breath.

"We must recover the Tesseract before any damage is released on Earth. You know other realms will come to take Midgard if they see they are valuable. Loki is not himself, father. This is unlike him. He seeks war where he used to seek a friend. I understand there is a code to be upheld. If you allow me to bring them back, Loki and the Tesseract, I will not hinder you from punishing him."

Odin's good eye snapped up, searing through his son. "Do you seek to stop Loki's schemes because you fancy a woman?"

Thor held his father's gaze. "I seek to stop him because he is my brother, and he is not himself."

"If you bring him back, he will be a war criminal. He aids the enemy. He will rot in chains. Are you prepared to be the cause?"

"If it is what I must do," he murmured remorsefully.

Odin stood from his seat in the council room, raising Gungnir. A cold sort of magic began to swell in the room. It drained any notion of happiness Thor once held. It made him feel desperate and lonely and incapable of his task. Even the light itself seemed to be swallowed by the dark energy. When sufficient magic was summoned, Odin sent his son to Midgard. There was a loud pop, a crash; Thor was gone, and with him, the feeling of oppression. Odin wearily sat back in his seat. He wheezed and coughed and summoned the maids for wine and meat. They brought him his favorite goblet and a plate of fresh roast. They played him music and sang bittersweet songs and told stories of old battles. Odin did not have the strength to listen. He sent his ravens through the void to follow Thor and watch his movement. If the golden haired prince was to go back on his word, Odin would have no choice but to label him as a war criminal as well.

As Thor barreled through Midgard's clouds, he had a strange thought. What if they could go back and do everything again? What if anger and fear and hatred were not needed? What if they could have lived peacefully as a family? These were strange thoughts indeed, as Thor was not accustomed to wondering about what could have been. They plagued his heart and made him unhappy. He wrote it off as a side-effect of the dark energy. Besides, there was never any use in worrying about what-ifs. This path was already set in stone. Things could never go back and be fixed, and Thor could not waste any more time on these thoughts.

He lit up the sky with his lightning. A small black _something_ cut through the clouds. On it, the mortals kept Loki. It reminded Thor of the archaic models of a personal flyer, though flatter and without topside propellers. He landed heavily on the roof, shaking the flyer. It shuddered under him, and bowed slightly under the sudden weight. The rear hatch opened; Thor dropped inside. Loki sat harnessed into a seat, guarded by a man in red and another in blue. The red aimed to strike. Thor had no time for him, pushed him away as gently as he could under his tried patience, grabbed his brother by the neck, and flew out of the flyer.

It wasn't much of a flight, really. Thor dropped his brother onto a rocky cliff, hoping to snap the sense into him. There was no change. Loki groaned heavily to be dropped on his back at such a speed.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

Loki laughed. "Oh, I missed you, too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor growled.

Loki picked his head up. In the dimness of the night, Thor could see how pale he was, how the scars hid under the collar of his cloak, how a layer of cold sweat clung to him like an illness. "Oh, you should thank me," he grunted, struggling to sit up. "With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All-Father have to muster to conjure you _here _to your precious Earth?" he spat. His head spun as he pulled himself on his feet. Even with the staff out of his hands, Siv still whispered to him.

Thor dropped his hammer and grabbed Loki by the back of his neck. "I thought you dead," he muttered.

Loki studied him down the bridge of his nose. "Did you mourn?" he tested flatly.

"We all did," Thor nodded. "Our father –"

Loki held up a finger. "_Your_ father," he corrected. Thor was stunned into silence. Loki shrugged him off. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

Thor stood by as Loki hobbled away, holding his back.

"We were raised together," Thor insisted desperately. "We played together, we fought together!" Still, Loki walked away from him. The betrayal squeezed Thor's already aching heart. "Do you remember none of that?"

Loki paused, turned. Something was not right about him, Thor noted, as Loki stared up coldly. If only he could hear the tormenting whispers, the curses, the lies Siv poured into her puppet. "I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I, who was, and should be, king!" he spat.

"So you take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights?" Loki reared at Thor's words. "No. The Earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki chuckled menacingly. "And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves while you idly fret. I mean to rule them, and why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?"

Loki blinked in confusion. "Well, yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill."

Loki bared his teeth and pushed Thor away to pace the cliff. He saw Odin's ravens, Hugin and Munin, circling around. Thought and Memory. How ironic that Thor tried so desperately to restart Loki's familial attachment with such grotesque things. He had all he needed already – aside from Midgard under his thumb, but that was fast approaching.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about!" Loki snarled. "I have grown, _Odinson_, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it –"

"Who showed you this power?" Thor asked. When did Loki stop seeing the cube as Siv? When did he begin to degrade it, deny its conscience, destroy its emotions? Was it the curse? Was it the shard that did these things to him? Or was it his allies, who ruined his heart beyond repair? Thor drew near. "Who controls the would-be king?"

"I am a king!" Loki roared.

"Not here!" Thor matched. He grabbed Loki once again. All of this stemmed from that mortal girl his brother once loved. Thor could take this no more. This was not Loki. This was not the man he grew up with. Thor found himself wishing things were different for a second time this evening. Thor would give anything to have his brother back. Even if that meant sacrificing what Loki once adored. Could the clever raven haired prince not see that if he did not change, Thor would have to destroy him?

"You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! You come home!"

For a moment, Loki could have cried. But he blinked back those strange emotions and shook his head. His voice became slick and treacherously playful. "I don't have it." Thor summoned his hammer in anger. "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off, I know not where."

"You listen well, brother," Thor growled, pointing at him with Mjølnir.

But whatever words Thor had for him were stolen away as a jettison of light rammed into his side, tossing him off the cliff.

"I'm listening," Loki said sarcastically.

҉

Fury snapped a hand out and held Stark back. "Are you telling me he just sat there while you three fought over him?"

Stark shrugged, smirking. "He's house trained."

Fury, Romanoff, and Teagan were thoroughly unamused.

"Look. You've got a squad of twelve boys with water pistols having a tea party with him in the quinjet. He's handcuffed with a couple of twisty ties someone snagged off the bread bags. You're going to parade him straight through your lab facilities without so much as a bat of your pretty little eyelashes for what could happen if he got loose down there. He's not secured until he's in the pit, and then what? We get to sit and watch him under the microscope? Fury, I'm not saying he let us take him, but he let us take him. You should have seen the way he looked while the golden retriever swung around his light-up toy. He was probably up there getting off on the fight. What's this guy all about, chaos? Deceit? If he's anything like the god he's supposed to be, we're two steps from hell."

"When did you ever care for theology?" Teagan asked, shooting him a glare. Even the simplest things made her despise him all the more.

Stark gave her a sarcastic smile. "I do my research when the opportunity is first given. Why don't you go get your tape recorder and jot down a few of L'oreal's favorite one-liners for your diary of doom? And who let you in here anyway, this is for the grownups."

Teagan curled her upper lip at him, ready to spit fire.

"Hill, why don't you team up with Thor in the cabin and write us up a report on what we should be expecting," Romanoff asked, breaking up the tension for one sacred moment. "We could really use it."

"Fine," she grunted.

"What, you can't let her do that, she's the baby on board, she doesn't know how to do anything but complain about higher powers."

"Get your fucking facts straight, I'm 26," Teagan snarled.

"Teargas, you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself."

Stark allowed her to punch him in the gut as she stormed past. He was surprised she had such a firm fist. "Don't touch me," he chuckled dryly, despite making no move to stop her.

Fury gave him a look.

"What?" Stark shrugged, open palmed.

"Keep riling up my lead theologist and you're gonna have a whole lotta crap hanging over your head from her babysitter."

"I'm not afraid of Coulson."

"Not yet you're not," Romanoff smiled.

"Well, what now?" Stark asked, ignoring her.

Fury jerked his head toward the hall. "I'm going to fetch our guest. You two get situated. And Stark?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you stir everyone up. I like my plans to go as wrong as possible."

Stark laughed. "You got it."

As Fury turned and headed for the tarmac, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of something one would liken to anxiety. Something was wrong. It was _all_ wrong, actually. Thor was never supposed to come back. The facility was never supposed to blow up. The Tesseract was never supposed to be out of their hands. But Fury had been in his position for long enough to know that everything always went wrong. And very, very rarely, something went right. And that was what he knew to fear. If something went right, it was always the wrong thing.

҉

In all corners of the helicarrier, they watched Fury and the thief. Every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent not directly working watched the camera for the historic moment – the moment the humans captured a god. Even the busy ones heard the conversation through their ear pieces.

Loki rolled his eyes as the cage closed around him. Everything was so pristinely clean and white and sickly. Sickly like him, though he did not feel it.

"In case it's unclear," the director said, voice echoing though the empty corridors. "If you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass," – the floor underneath the cage opened, eagerly waiting to swallow the thief whole – "it's thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury closed the gaping hole.

"Ant." He pointed to Loki.

"Boot." He pointed to the control panel.

Loki chuckled darkly, stepping into the center of the cage. He was illuminated with the cold white lights. "It's an impressive cage," he admitted. "Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard." Loki turned to grin at the camera that hounded his every move. "A mindless beast who makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh," Loki breathed, "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded of what real power is."

Fury allowed an empty grin. "Well, let me know if _Real Power_ wants a magazine or something." And with that, he left Loki to his thoughts in that forgotten corner of the ship.

From her lab, Teagan felt swallowed by something she could not even begin to explain. She reached for her coffee mug, only to find that it was, unfortunately, still empty.

_23:01_

_2.4.14_


	8. She Knows Something

"Look, here, I'm sorry, it's not like I'm the one who decided to chop all her hair off. Take it. Take it, it's contaminating me with her residual hatred for all humanity." Stark offered the ponytail to Coulson for the sixth time.

Coulson took the hair and dropped it in a wastebasket in a passing office. "How did I know it was going to be you?" he sighed, giving Stark a quiet shake of his head. He was annoyed, but it was already done and over with. Besides, it was just hair. It would grow back. Teagan's decision was her own. He just wished she didn't have to jump to extremes so suddenly. He also wished Stark could learn to shut his mouth occasionally.

"Let me make it up to you somehow. Admit it, she's like your weird adopted daughter. And what do daughters need? Mothers. What about that cellist?"

"Stark, please," Coulson warned.

Stark kept the agent's lengthening stride easily. They neared the helicarrier's cabin.

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?" came Banner's voice.

"It's a stabilizing agent," Stark answered as he and Coulson entered the room. He lowered his voice. "I'm just saying, pick a weekend, I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive."

Coulson pointed to a door beside them, muttering "That's not necessary." He ducked into the closed hallway to gather a few reports.

Stark approached the ragtag group before him. Loki was right – they were a bunch of lost creatures, weren't they? "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Thor straightened upon seeing Stark's entry. "No hard feelings, Point Break," Stark assured, giving the Aesir's arm a friendly slap. "You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He passed Agent Hill on his way to the center controls of the helicarrier. She rolled her eyes. "Raise the mizzenmast! Jib the topsails!" Stark called out. He earned several annoyed glances from the agents below him. "That man is playing Galaga!" he announced, pointing out the poor chap. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Stark covered one eye, staring at the controls again. "How does Fury even see these?"

Hill could easily understand why Stark got on Little Hill's nerves. This man had the attention span of a dog, and was just as obnoxious. "He turns," she responded tersely.

"Sounds exhausting," Stark muttered. He started to play with the controls. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked, arms folded over her chest.

Stark had to do a double-take to make sure he wasn't seeing his favorite young lab rat. "Last night," he smirked. "The packet. Selvig's notes. The extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" He purposely left out Teagan's involvement. Stark had done a little more research of his own – clean energy wasn't the only thing she was on the team for. He only had to wait a few hours to find out exactly what flavor of sin she served.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Rogers inquired.

Banner paced behind the circular desk, shoulders hunched in on himself. "He would have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the coulomb barrier."

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Stark smiled. Again, leaving out Teagan's interference. Selvig was the one doing all the mathematic work, anyway.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Banner chuckled.

"Finally, someone who speaks English," Stark grinned, making his way around the desk to shake Banner's hand.

"Is that what just happened?" Rogers asked, looking around for confirmation.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Banner nodded, pursing his lips. "Thanks," he replied.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube," Fury announced, entering the cabin. "I was hoping you might join him."

Stark and Banner looked at each other, shrugging.

"I would start with that stick of his," Rogers suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it _is_ powered by the cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys," Fury growled.

"Monkeys?" Thor spoke up from the sidelines. "I do not understand."

"I do," Rogers piped up, thankful to at least recognize one pop culture mention. "I understood that reference."

From behind the captain, Tony Stark rolled his eyes. "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"This way, sir," Banner said quietly, ushering his partner down the hall.

Night had long fallen over the helicarrier and its cargo. From the heart of the airship, Banner and Stark ran test after test on their prize – the staff appropriated from the thief. They wore no gloves, but were exceedingly careful not to touch the glowing rod. Even from its pedestal, it seemed harmful. Caustic. Deathly. They wondered what such a thing was capable of in the wrong hands. As if Loki's hands were any cleaner than their own. They were all enemies to someone.

Banner waved a Geiger counter across the blue gem. "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract. But it's going to take weeks to process."

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this in at about 600 teraflops," Stark shrugged, fiddling with the lab's remote control panel.

Banner chuckled to himself. "All I brought was a toothbrush."

"You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime," Stark suggested, nearing the doctor. "Top ten floors, all R&D, you'd love it, it's Candy Land."

Banner respectfully declined, remembering the last time he visited New York. An unpleasant flavor rose in his throat. Stark shook his head, taking no offense in the rejection. He suddenly jabbed Banner in the side with an electrical rod, examining for any changes. He was pleased to find the doctor unaffected, though a bit _shocked_. Captain Rogers, however, was not so unbothered.

"Is everything a joke to you?" he growled.

"Funny things," Stark pointed out.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc," Rogers added quickly.

Stark held his palms up. Banner shook his head. "It's alright, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"You're tip-toeing big man. You need to strut," Stark said.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Captain Rogers was thoroughly done with this man's idea of teamwork.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

Rogers tightened his jaw. "You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets." He popped a blueberry in his mouth from a bag he seemingly magicked out of nowhere. "It's bugging him, too, isn't it?"

Banner looked up, suddenly drawn, once again, into a discussion he wanted no part of. "I just want to finish my work here, and –"

"Doctor," Rogers insisted.

Banner shot a guilty glance between the two, taking off his glasses. "'A warm light for all mankind.' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it," Rogers nodded.

Banner glanced at Stark. "Well, I think that was meant for you." Stark offered him the bag of blueberries, which he shrugged and accepted a handful of. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"Stark Tower?" Rogers asked. "That big ugly building in New York?"

Stark shot him a look.

"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source," Banner explained. "That building will run itself for, what, a year?"

Stark shrugged. "It's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at."

"So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Banner asked.

Teagan watched from outside the lab. The three men stood around the staff. It was going to be impossible to intrude without making them suspicious. Stark and Banner edged dangerously close to something she was sure she didn't want hanging over her head. That information was classified and even she didn't know what S.H.I.E.L.D. was really after, despite her involvement. She could only imagine what Selvig knew, potentially still in Loki's control. "Compartmentalization," Director Fury told her once. Every agent had a different mission. And what was hers? What would she be recognized for, after all of this? This was what three years of constant research led to.

The cube wasn't just an energy source. The first time she touched it with her bare hands back in the facility, she knew the truth. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. And that's what bothered her the most. The fact that she could not even begin to describe why or how or prove what she knew. Others tried to touch the cube. They saw nothing, or refused to believe. So why couldn't she? She refused to believe a lot of things. She had seen a lot of strange and seemingly miraculous events while on her trek through the global Parthenon of deities. There were even times where she had sufficient data to accept a god or two. And still, she found a way to break it. There was knowledge inside of her that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted for their own. Teagan boarded the ship not because she wanted to continue her research, but because she needed to get the Tesseract back. She knew things no one else could have even guessed at.

Teagan swallowed, looking down at her pocket. Coulson no doubt watched her every move, despite letting her roam free. He may have been kind to her, but they were all spies here. Everyone but her and the misfit toys they dragged in to clean up their mess. It was a shame that she trusted him so much. His mission was probably to make sure she didn't walk out with their information.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up."

Teagan's attention was drawn back to their conversation.

"This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

Teagan shook her head. Loki already started the war. They were all too blind and too late to stop it. And if there was anyone she could trust to tell her the truth, it was the one who lied the most. She ignored the buzzing in her pocket and darted down the hall.

҉

Loki stood in the center of his cage. From here, he could feel each of those fragile human souls scurrying through the halls. Each was more clouded than the last. They all kept terrible secrets inside of themselves. They all shared a similar dark past. They all worked for a mendacious organization on the belief that they were doing good deeds for the world. So much chaos brewed just under the surface of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Loki could see it plainly. He delighted to find these pitiful creatures tricked themselves so many times that even they did not know which words they spoke were truth or false. Tendrils of shadows gripped the entire ship. They knew not what they really were. How much fun would it be to rip off the veil and show them all the truth? The tendrils, like a monster from the deep, would crush them all. Ah, what a lovely rain would fall from the clouds, of blood, and fire, and destruction.

He grinned.

One soul, troubled yet not as filthy as its mates, drew near. It paused where the lights dimmed and the floor sloped downward. Tentatively, it eased down the hall.

"You must think me a fool if I do not know what you come here seeking," he voiced.

The soul stopped.

Loki turned to face the hallway. It stood at the far end, draped in something like a white sheet. A lab coat, perhaps, like his servants wore in Italy. Its figure was slight, stiff, suspecting. There was a coldness about her stance that pleased him. She pretended for her own sake that she feared him not, though the attitude itself denied her bravery.

"What do you think I want?" she tested. She decided she was comfortable enough right where she stood – very far away from him. She reached up to pull on her ponytail, only to rest her hand on the back of her neck, forgetting it was no longer there.

Loki flashed her a dark smile. "You want to know the secret. You want to know what the truth is. In your few days in the facility with the cube, you found something. You were shown something. You saw its heart. You saw the entire universe. And do you want to know what your precious companions are going to do with that power? Once they discover how to crack it open? They are going to use it to build weapons of mass destruction, unlike anything you have ever seen on this tiring planet. They are going to neutralize foreign threats that do not yet exist. They are going to control the realm with nothing more than fear. It will be entirely your fault, little one."

She took a step back. How did he know these things? Did Barton tell him? Was he lying? How did he know what she saw? She swallowed and pushed herself toward him. His probing helped her understand just what she had witnessed. "I did. I saw everything. I saw things people would kill to know. They've been killing for centuries on little less than a guess."

"And does it not terrify you? To know that your entire existence has been a lie?"

"It was never a lie for me. Not if I didn't believe in anything to begin with."

"Ah, I see. You are the martyr of your people, the one who does not shy from what others only wonder about. You will let yourself be the one they hate for the sake of furthering humanity, will you not? You, depraved of praise and respect, seek to destroy yourself to prove a simple truth."

"What about you?" Her voice trembled, but she spoke with fire. "I learned about you, I think. Your girlfriend didn't tell me everything, but she told me a lot. She told me she's trying to clean up the mess you made. Something about you starting a war."

Loki said nothing, only narrowed his eyes.

The mortal was brave enough to straighten her back and stand face to face with him. "She called herself Siv. She said she's trying to put things back the way they were, but she can't do that can she? Not with you in the way. Do you even know what you've done?"

_'She puts the blame on you it was all her fault she was the one who led you to ruin she admits she was the one who ruined you the king will never be the same she broke you once she'll do it again destroy her destroy the cube destroy all who stand in your way it is not a war it is a new beginning it is a fresh start you need no fixing it is the universe that needs to be fixed you are the only ruler this place shall ever need you will live forever you will guide them all they will worship you she will stop you she is trying to prevent your rule she– '_

"I KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT I HAVE DONE, FILTH. I AM NOT SOME MISCREANT CHILD THAT NEEDS TO BE REPRIMANDED. SHE TRUSTS YOU, DOES SHE? SHE WILL WHISPER ALL OF HER SWEET TRUTHS INTO YOUR EAR? I WILL TEAR DOWN EVERY WALL YOU HAVE EVER BUILT AROUND YOURSELF. I WILL DESTROY YOU, AND THEN I WILL KILL YOU. AND WHAT CAN SHE DO BUT WATCH? SHE WILL NOT STOP ME. YOU MAY THINK HER YOUR SAVIOR. I WILL SHOW YOU SHE WILL STAND BY AND LET ME BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND. YOU ARE NOTHING, HUMAN. NOTHING. NOT EVEN WORTHY OF ENSLAVEMENT. GET OUT OF MY SIGHT. GO!"

She stumbled back, clinging to the wall for support. Tears welled in her wide blue eyes, a gasp caught somewhere between her tongue and her lips. His words did not frighten her as much as his sudden lividness. The anger exploded out of him like wildfire, and being swept up in it surprised her. She could see his eyes flicker between sickening blue and cloudy green. There was more than hatred inside of him, there was pain and possibly fear. What did he fear? What was there to be afraid of from the cube, that only tried to repair the damage it did to him? These questions didn't matter to her so much as vacating the premises as quickly as possible. She stumbled out of the room, not giving him a second glance as she silenced the sobs that clenched her throat.

What Loki took from the short-lived conversation was not necessarily true. The woman in the lab coat said the Tesseract told her things. That it called itself Siv. But if Siv's soul returned to the Tesseract, its memories of previous lives would have been erased, recycled, and the soul would have been washed clean to start anew. In his own blindness, in the torrent of his troubled mind, Loki found himself unable to see the truth.

He paced fervently across the small, clean cell.

And then he met Natasha.

_17:02_

_4.4.14_


	9. A Strange Hero

_ Two and a half weeks of nothing but work. Teagan approached her fourth sunset without sleep at the facility. She couldn't remember what sleep felt like. She was long past the point of exhaustion. She ate, of course. Fueled her body with necessary nutrients and near-fatal amounts of coffee. She even stopped for bathroom breaks. But her mind never stopped working, the gears never stopped turning, and she physically could not quit. She wasn't even sure if her body knew what its brain was doing anymore. After the internal warning bells gave up, she continued on like any of the other scientists._

_ Erik Selvig worked even harder than she. He was there for the "real" operation. He was there to try to open up the cube. Teagan became somewhat mild-mannered when sleep deprived, having no energy to focus on being ornery and stubborn. She got out of his way when he came up with mathematical theories to test. He was a brilliant physicist. She admired him. So when he prattled off mystical fairy tale nonsense, she was somehow eager to listen. Something about Thor and Bifrost and Asgard and a portal. He hardly seemed to believe the words coming out of his own mouth; why did she take them to heart? Secretly, she came up with impossible concepts that would make even the most imaginative science-fiction novelist laugh in her face. Didn't Selvig say once that his friend, Jane Foster, reminded him science-fiction was a precursor to science fact? Teagan wanted to see if her strange insomnolent ideas had any truth to them at all._

_ That was her thing, wasn't it? She was all about truth. And pissing people off, but that was just on the fun days. Truth. That was a thing she did. Right. She did truth. And coffee. Coffee was definitely truth. _

_ Somewhere above her, Special Agent Clint Barton grumbled to the director over his headset that these scientists were "acting like little kids hyped up on all the psychedelic drugs in the world," and that he "hadn't slept for four days to keep an eye on them". If he was so tired, why didn't he just sleep? Teagan couldn't grasp the concept that he was here to make sure they didn't hurt themselves in exhaustion. _

_ So when she suddenly walked up to the Tesseract, Clint Barton felt what one would call a twinge of panic. Teagan Hill stumbled up to the cube, held out her hand, and grabbed it. Nothing happened inside the facility. Light bulbs didn't explode, sprinkler systems didn't turn on, ominous blue smoke didn't fill the room. It was like Teagan just touched it and finally keeled over to rest._

_ She was immersed in something much more satisfying than that._

_ It was almost as if she was whisked away into another place, another time. It would have been nice to believe. A young girl walked up to Teagan in this strange place. She was maybe twelve years old, furs bundled tight under her chin. She had long braids and bright blue eyes and a maturity about her that reminded Teagan of what grandmothers probably were. There was so much blue in Teagan's peripheral vision. She had a hard time deciding if she was under water, or on snow-covered mountains, or in hot blue fire, or in the girl's eyes themselves. It was a weird sensation. Everything was weird. But still, those internal warning bells were silent._

_ The little girl smiled sadly and turned away from Teagan. The human padded softly after her, feet sluggish. "Who are you?" Teagan tried to ask. She had a difficult time forming the words in her mouth. The little girl must have heard her, because she dropped the furs from her shoulders and stood, arms outstretched, as tendrils of soft blue eased their way out of her heart._

_ '_We are the universe_,' many voices whispered in unison. Some were young, some were old, some male and others female. Even the whispers echoed with other whispers of languages known and unknown._

_ Teagan saw world upon world layer over themselves, mass amounts of life and light flooding her senses. They all flowed through her at once, but it was all so overwhelming that she was helplessly ignorant to what they were or what it meant._

_ "What are you?" Teagan tried again._

_ The girl flashed another sad smile and the brightness faded into shades of night, dark and comforting and remote. Stars glittered above their heads, and below their feet, and inside them, too. '_I am the first_,' came just one voice. '_I am the first soul. I am the original._' But the little girl's voice was somehow unsure of itself, as if she couldn't decide if that were really true. '_He calls me Siv._'_

_ And despite everything Teagan disproved over the last decade or so of her life, she was more than willing to believe her. It didn't make sense, and yet, it did. She had so many questions to ask this original soul, but nothing was brave enough to come front and center. The girl knew exactly what she wanted to hear, and took the initiative. The stars came together into one point of light, aiding the girl in explaining her story._

_ '_From deep inside the heart of the very first star came what you call the Tesseract. The Tesseract is pure energy, a life force. The life force of everything in every world in every realm. I was the very first soul it created. When my first vessel died, I found millions upon millions of things to live in, but there was only one of me. So I split myself. And when there were two of me, and our vessels died, we split again into four. And when those vessels died, we split again into eight. But our souls became heavy over time and our vessels could not handle so many memories. We returned to the cube every few lives to empty our burdens, then sought our next vessels. I, the original, was away for so long, split so many times, that it was hard to tell which of me was the true me. In the end, it did not matter; I would come back to empty my memories and keep going.

_ '_I have the most contact with the Tesseract. It was lost for a time, long ago, but when it resurfaced, we established the most direct link. We know everything that has happened since the dawn of life, and can tell you everything that will happen until the end._'_

_ The stars came together and extinguished themselves into total darkness. Teagan flinched._

_ '_That's not to say it's set in stone_,' the girl continued. The stars came back one by one, slowly. '_Sometimes a soul will become attached to its vessel and search long and hard for another just like it. Sometimes a soul just wants to wander and observe from outside a vessel. But rarely does a soul act outside what's been predicted. There are more than ten trillion souls inhabiting vessels today. We have come to learn that many interactions are foreseeable, and thus, we can 'see the future'. Rarely does a soul act outside expectations. There is one in particular that I am attached to. I'm trying to stop the war he's put in motion. It was expected that it would happen, but not like this. This was not how it was supposed to happen. Even from his childhood, I knew things were wrong. And I ruined him. My involvement destroyed his sense of self. He is a villain because I thought him a hero. A strange hero, but a hero all the same. In the timeline where my vessel – the body my image now holds – was supposed to be eaten by a wolf, he saved me. And when that vessel died, he continued to look for me. I was foolish. Billions of years should have taught me to stay away, I would only hurt the timeline. But I was thoughtless and sought adventure; I messed up. There will be a war. A great war that will crush all things. The Tesseract will have to start over. Niflheim and Jotunheim are already devoid of life. Soon, Svartalfheim will follow. I must try to stop it. No, not try. I _will_ stop it. Like you will prove the truth._'_

_ "What can I do to help?" Teagan blurted out. Self-preservation was in her nature, but not prevention of war._

_ The girl smiled sadly yet again. '_My actions have altered even your soul. You would not be offering assistance to me if I had not been close to Loki._'_

_ Teagan opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no words escaped her. In the time where they were most needed, she could not spin them up in an argument against the original soul._

_ '_Sleep now. Your vessel needs it. In a few hours, he will come through the portal. He will be possessed by something that was once of the Tesseract. Prepare yourselves, because he is not one easily stopped._'_

_ And when Teagan awoke four hours later in the hospital ward of the facility, all she could do was gape up at her superiors. She had no words to explain what she had seen. She doubted they would even believe her. When she was able to stand without assistance, the Tesseract swelled with energy. They had no time for further interrogations. Teagan was escorted quickly out of the facility in the first helicopter available – out of range of a potential explosion. Clint Barton had no trouble covering the fact that it was Teagan who had awoken the cube. _

_That theory helped dissuade itself when a man in green came through and started killing people._

҉

Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder. It was rough and calloused, but it was comforting. Protecting. The man attached to that hand was no less so. Teagan looked up at him, her blue eyes wet with fear as she choked down breath after staggering breath. In less than five minutes, Loki's words had brought her down to childish panic.

"Hill. _Hill_. Teagan, get ahold of yourself," he murmured firmly, shaking her.

"I'm sorry," she struggled out, heaving great gasps of terror. "I'm sorry, you told me not to, I don't know why I did it, I had to find out if it was true. I'm not imagining things, Coulson, I know that now, I know what happened, I can tell you, there's a war coming, we're not ready for it–"

"Slow down," Coulson said. He urged the frantic woman out of the corner of her lab and to her feet. He had expected she would go down to talk to Loki. When Romanoff reported in that she passed Teagan on her way to interrogation, he left Thor in the company of the director and went to her. He hadn't expected to see her as a crumpled mess. She was still just a scared, lonely little kid on the inside. "Tell me what you know. What happened? What happened at the facility?"

"I touched the cube," Teagan whimpered. "It's a living creature. Coulson, it's _everything_. If there was ever a god, the Tesseract is it. There's a little girl inside, she said he called her Siv. Something about – something about Loki naming her when he was little, maybe? No that's wrong, I don't know, it was hard to focus, a lot of things were happening – She said she's trying to stop the war he started. Coulson, we're all going to die. She said Niflheim and Jotunheim are already dead. I'm pretty sure those are realms in Norse myth. She said Svartalfheim was next. I don't know what that means. It's bigger than us."

Coulson examined her grimly. Whatever she was rattling off, she believed it. Three thousand percent. And Teagan was never one to believe things unless she could prove it. "Give me the facts, Teagan. Tell it to me straight. This isn't like you. You don't go on whims. Just because a cube with a conscience made contact, you don't up and believe it's a god. You don't even believe Thor is a god. Do you?"

Teagan sniffed.

"Do you?" Coulson repeated. Trying to talk sense into her was harder than he imagined.

Teagan lowered her head, shaking the tears out of her eyelashes.

There was a quick knock at the doorframe as Maria Hill entered the lab, breaking up the tense atmosphere. "Sir, we've got a situation," Maria muttered urgently. She raised an eyebrow in surprise at Teagan's disposition, but said nothing to her.

Coulson patted Teagan's shoulder and she drifted off to the sink to wash her face. "What's going on?" he asked.

Hill swallowed. "Director Fury, Romanoff, Rogers, Stark, Banner, and Thor are all gathered in Lab 4. Stark hacked into the mainframe. Rogers broke into the cargo hold. They found out about –" she locked her jaw and shot a grim glance at Teagan "– Phase Two."

"What's Phase Two?" Teagan questioned through her towel.

Coulson and Hill looked at each other. "You don't have clearance for that knowledge," Hill answered.

"Phase Two means S.H.I.E.L.D. is building weapons to protect against other-worldly threats," Coulson explained.

Teagan let out something of a laugh. Her expression did not match the sound she made. "What, we're part of the war, too?" she whispered. Coulson regrettably knew what she meant. He made no attempt to deny it.

Hill turned away for a brief moment, finger to her left ear. "Banner has Loki's weapon," she breathed. Coulson clicked his tongue in dismay and drew the gun from under his blazer. Hill held a finger up to him. "He's put it down, they've found the Tesseract."

Coulson immediately pulled up a holo-monitor and hitched a ride on Banner's screen. The Hills went to his side, examining the map. The three paled in dismay. "Stay here!" Coulson demanded, and he and Maria darted to the cabin. Teagan was left by herself, clinging to anything she could reach as the ship was shaken by an explosion.

҉

"Hill!" Fury grunted through his earpiece.

"External detonation!" she replied immediately, sliding in front of the ship's center controls. "Number three engine is down. We've been hit." She let go of her earpiece. "Can we get it running?" she asked any of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that scurried around her.

"Fire in engine three!" one replied, a good distance away.

"Talk to me," she said, jogging down to him.

"Turbine looks mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air."

"If we lose one more engine, we won't be," Hill muttered. She pressed her finger to her earpiece. "Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine."

"Stark, you copy that?" Fury called into his earpiece.

"I'm on it," Stark replied.

"Coulson, initiate defensive lockdown position in the detention section then get to the armory," Fury ordered.

Coulson clenched his jaw, grinding his molars. It was a terrible habit of his, brought on by sudden stress. He would do as ordered, but Teagan resided in Lab 9. Lab 9 rested just inside the detention section, which meant she would be stuck down there if Loki got out of his cage and started wrecking the place. She would be dead in a matter of seconds. Phil Coulson, for the first time in a long time, had difficulty complying with his orders.

҉

From his cell, Loki could feel the mortals' fear like a refreshing breeze throughout the ship. The undercarriage shook viciously with the explosion in engine three. It was, after all, very close to where he resided. Everything was going more or less according to plan. The explosion was a signal to the King that his marksman had arrived. The easily-captured Aesir was no longer to play nice with these pathetic creatures. But what was more pleasing than either of those things was the roar of a beast that echoed through the ribs of the undercarriage.

The well-placed explosive caused the floor of Lab 4 to give way, and drop Banner and Romanoff into the loading deck. Romanoff was at the mercy of the doctor as he exploded into his monstrous self. Much to Loki's amusement, there would be no such thing as mercy. Suddenly, the King felt his center of gravity shift steeply to his right side. The marksman had taken down another engine. A slight vertigo tightened his stomach as the ship lost altitude. As chaos consumed the helicarrier, the marksman came down the air coolant shaft. He dropped lightly on his feet, bow in hand.

"What of Thor?" Loki asked.

Barton looked at the cell's control panel for a brief moment. "He was occupying Banner, but not anymore. The Hulk's been thrown out of the sky. Thor will come down to find you soon. Do you need any help, sir? Or can you get out of your birdcage on your own?"

Loki bared his teeth in a low growl, walking through the glass as if it were never even there. "I can," he snarled.

Barton was silent for a moment. "Orders, sir?"

Loki grinned. "Go find your insect, and crush her."

Barton nodded and headed toward the main door. "Spiders are arachnids, sir, not insects," he mentioned casually, and disappeared.

A few tense moments allowed Loki to prepare his escape. Just as Thor opened the cell room door, Loki appeared to be breaking out. "No!" Thor roared, racing to tackle his haunted brother. Loki braced for impact. It was the golden haired prince who should have done so; Thor skidded face first across the cell of the cage floor, door sealing behind him. The Loki seen escaping was no more than a doppelgänger. A trick.

Loki stood in front of the cell, looking on plainly. "Are you ever not going to fall for that?" he questioned.

Thor raised Mjølnir, striking the glass with an angry blow. The cage shuddered and the locks holding it in place loosened dangerously. A web-like crack scored the once pristine surface. Loki grinned.

'_The brash prince can never be gentle look how he damages everything he touches he is fueled by petty anger he does not deserve a thing except death even then he would fight it drop him from this height crush him he'll certainly be broken enough to not get back up he cannot cast healing magic he has no stones he is helpless he will die slowly and painfully just like you want open the doors let the fool be killed in his favorite place let Thor die in Midgard if he is so fond of it– '_

"The humans think us immortal," Loki chuckled, easing toward the control panel. "Should we test that?"

"Move away, please," came the voice of a tired and balding man. He wielded a strange weapon, unlike anything Loki knew to be Midgardian. It was large and unshapely. Bulky. Uncomfortable, like all other human creations. Loki eyed the weapon skeptically. He backed away slowly. The human stepped forward, unfazed to be in the presence of not one but two gods. "You like this?" he said, adjusting the weapon in his grip. "We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does."

Loki continued to back away, palms up, lengthening the distance the human so cockily closed.

The balding human powered up the machine. The barrel opened and flared with sudden intense heat. "Do you want to find out?"

But he never had the chance to say another word. Loki held the staff once again in his palms, and shoved it through the back of the human's ribs.

"NO!" Thor screamed in anguish.

The human fell against the wall, blood streaked from his descent. He gasped and sputtered as warm red gushed from his lips. Loki stepped over him as one would step over a floor rug. Thor hounded Loki with a dark glare, feeling his anger surge within him. Loki smiled unapologetically. He motioned to the bloody spear in his hand. It was then Thor realized that this was not Loki he saw, but the staff itself possessing the carcass of what was once his brother. Loki went to the control panel once more, gave Thor one final glance, and pushed the button that sent him down through the clouds.

The silence was somehow unbefitting. Loki was dissatisfied with Thor for not having let out a roar of anger or fear from the drop. The King sighed tersely and flipped closed the air lock switch, turned, walked away. He didn't get very far.

"You're going to lose," the human gurgled softly.

Loki was slightly impressed the man was still alive. Its words, however, irked him. "Am I?"

"It's in your nature." The lights in his eyes were quickly dimming.

"Hmm," Loki mused, disagreeing. "Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction," Coulson answered.

Loki felt his temper being tried. "I don't think I'm– "

But he didn't get to finish his sentence, as the human had just enough strength to pull the trigger on his gun. Loki was sent flying by a ferocious blast of pure hot fire. He stood, unscathed from the impact, though thoroughly annoyed now. "You pathetic wastes of air will all fall to me in a matter of hours. I will be your new King. And you cannot stop me. I will show you conviction. I will show you what truly lies in my nature."

And with that, Loki fled to the tarmac, where he boarded a quinjet and was flown to someplace he knew they would find him again.

Tony Stark finally revived engine three, stabilizing the descending helicarrier. Nick Fury came to Coulson's side as quickly as he could.

"Sorry, boss," Coulson struggled out. "The god rabbited."

"Just stay awake," Fury ordered, moving the Destroyer model from Coulson's lap. "Eyes on me."

Coulson let out a little sigh. "No, I'm clocking out here."

"Not an option."

"It's okay, boss," Coulson whispered. "This was never gonna work if they didn't have something to. . ."

Fury held his gaze firm, waiting for Coulson to finish his sentence. He never did. A team of nurses from the hospital ward came rushing to Coulson's side. Fury stepped back to allow them room in the tight corridor.

Fury spoke into his earpiece. "Agent Coulson is down."

"A medical team is on its way to your location," an agent replied.

"They're here," Fury responded. "They called it."

Teagan, locked away in Lab 9, did not receive word until Maria came to fetch her twenty minutes after Coulson's passing. The first thing Little Hill did was make herself a cup of coffee. After that, she cried.

_23:25_

_6.4.14_


	10. Some Assembly Required

On the tallest ridge of Stark Tower, the King observed his scientist, Erik Selvig. The miniature portal was near completion. In mere minutes, the sky would rip open and down would come Loki's army to aid in confiscating Midgard. But elsewhere, just off the coast of New York, away from the wreckage of the steel cell, Thor pulled himself from the dirt. Around him, an entire field spoke of the impending chaos. A deep crater scored the earth where Thor slid for great lengths. Dirt caked his skin and clothes, but thousands of flowers lay strewn in crumpled messes. They would die soon. Just like the Midgardians that Thor loved so much, if he did not save them.

The golden haired prince searched for Mjølnir, his beloved hammer. It was some distance away from him. The handle just barely peeked above the tall grass. He slowly made his way forward. Terrible thoughts filled his head. Unusual thoughts. What caused this drastic change in his morality? He liked to think he was becoming the man he was already supposed to be. He reached for the hammer. It did not come to him.

Did he summon it to his palm, or did he only extend his hand to it? For a brief moment, Thor feared himself no longer worthy. He could not stop his brother's fall from the Bifrost. He could not stop the Chitauri from collecting the broken Aesir and twisting him into their slave. He could not stop Coulson's death. He could not stop the invasion and destruction of the Earth.

He clenched his fist tight. _'It is only the after-effects of the dark energy,'_ he tried to convince himself. _'I can stop them. I will. And Loki will be the man he is supposed to be, and we will go home, and everything will be as it once was.'_ But Thor was never as good a liar as his brother. It took several deep breaths and the reminder of approaching peril to shape up and collect his pride. Surrender was not in Thor's nature.

҉

Stark hobbled his way through the sky in his faltering suit. It streaked thick smoke behind him, charting his dive. "Shut it down, Dr. Selvig," he ordered. Loki grinned to himself. It would not be so easy to bend his servant's new will.

"It's too late!" Selvig called. And he was right. The mechanism whirred and hummed as energy coursed through it. The top spun like the observatory destroyed mere months ago on Asgard. It must have been nearly three years, if running on the corrupted Midgardian timeline. Selvig turned to his work, smiling. "She can't stop now." The mechanism spun steadily faster. "She wants to show us something! A new universe!"

The King laughed to see Stark's futile attempt at destroying the machine. The Tesseract repelled him with enough force to make a miniature explosion. Selvig was thrown back, presumably dead or unconscious. It was no concern to Loki anymore; the portal was unstoppable and soon ready. Stark eased to the landing pad and undressed himself of the battered armor. He strutted inside. Loki joined him.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki sneered. He held his shoulders back and his chin high. He adopted a new air of regality, unlike his old princely self. His forgotten self. Loki believed himself a king and therefore he _was_ a king. The scepter was gripped so tightly his knuckles were likely to be permanently white.

"Actually, I'm planning on threatening you." Stark somehow still had the audacity to think he could make jests at a time such as this.

The King would play. This servant was still partially amusing. "You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah," Stark considered, agreeing. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

Loki smirked down at his staff. Comparing such a mighty weapon to something as useless as a glowing stick was laughable in and of itself. The staff hissed and snarled and threatened the human, though only the King could hear it. "Stalling me won't change anything," he chuckled.

"No, no. Threatening," Stark insisted. "No drink? Are you sure? I'm having one."

Loki's amusement fast faded. His grin morphed into something of a snarl; he turned, pacing by the windows. From here, the King saw his entire empire stretch to the horizon and beyond. Six billion lives would soon be his property. Despite being short lived, these servants were a greater prize collectively. Sixty thousand times greater. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" But Stark said nothing about fear. Loki talked more now to the staff in his hands than to the mortal before him. Siv was just short of screaming in Loki's ear. How much more of this could he handle?

"The Avengers," Stark said simply. He poured himself a glass of whiskey. Loki narrowed his eyes briefly. "It's what we call ourselves," Stark explained. "We're sort of like a team. 'Earth's mightiest heroes' type thing."

Loki could have laughed. "Yes. I've met them."

"Yeah." Stark gave a sarcastic grin. "It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a headcount here. Your brother, the demigod, a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan," Loki hissed through his smirk.

"Not a great plan," Stark muttered over the rim of his glass. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army," Loki growled.

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off?" Loki questioned, imagining its glorious plunge from the helicarrier.

Stark stepped toward the King without regards to manners. "Yeah, you're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

_'He is a liar he will be smothered like a persistent flame you are their king the entire realm is your throne there will be nothing left to avenge when they are all yours take him take his heart let me have him let me control him he is their ally like Barton they may have taken Barton but they cannot take Stark he is strong he is powerful but not for long he fears you he wants to kill you let his friends murder him in battle he is arrogant like Thor is cocksure like Thor this world needs no men like him take over Stark take over the Iron Man he is yours it is all yours it is your home now and they can do nothing about it give him to me give him to me come to me come to me COME TO ME– '_

"How will your friends have time for me," Loki hissed, "when they are so busy fighting you?"

Power swelled in the staff, hot blue magic. It touched Stark's heart with an unusual sound. Faltered.

Loki tried again.

Metal against metal.

"This usually works," he whispered, confused. Even the staff had no words for him.

Stark shrugged. "Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five."

Loki grabbed him by the throat. The King would not tolerate such vulgar insults. If he could not control the ignorant fool, the only other option was to kill him. And kill he would. He threw Stark to the hard stone floor before the massive windows. The human muttered something unintelligible. "You will all fall before me," Loki promised, sending him tumbling down to the streets below. Something whirred behind him. A red metal pod propelled itself through the window after its master, Loki having only factions of a second to duck out of its way.

A red suit, much like the one previously discarded, floated brightly, proudly, annoyingly in the sky. Stark just would not close his mouth.

"And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil." For a moment, Stark wondered if Teagan would have the heart to be upset. He landed a special repulsor counterattack in her name just in case.

But the portal was ready, and soon after, the Chitauri flooded the skies. Stark fled to stop the warriors, with little luck. The King cloaked himself in his ceremonial armor; what once reminded him of vernal Asgard now only bore the image of blazing golden fire. He stood on the landing pad, observing with quiet satisfaction the carnal destruction of New York City. His pleasure was soon interrupted.

"Loki!" Thor bellowed, dropping from the skies. Loki scowled. Thor pointed to the portal with his beloved hammer. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it," he threatened.

_'Have we reverted in age eight hundred years?'_ Loki briefly wondered, finally hearing his own voice in his head after an untold amount of time. "You can't," he growled, "There is no stopping it. There is only the war!"

"So be it," Thor whispered.

Loki roared as he jumped from his platform; the battle quickly ensued. Thor took blow after fierce blow. Was it his uneagerness to harm his possessed brother? Had Loki banished his reserve to fight? The raven haired prince was never a close-range fighter, even in this most vicious anger. This was not his style of sparring. Thor had a terrible time predicting Loki's attack pattern, and thus faltered when forced to return such heavy assaults. Above their heads, Thor's mortal allies did their best to stop the damage. A personal flyer, no, a quinjet hovered in close range, observing their combat. Loki shot at it with his stolen staff, bringing down one wing and therefore the entire plane. Thor barreled into his brother's side. He would have to keep Loki occupied if he was going to prevent the deaths of any more humans. Each punch Thor landed dented Loki's armor, but hurt their pride infinitely more.

"What happened to you, brother?" Thor roared, locking the staff between his hammer and his arms. It clattered with a cold hiss as metal scraped stone. "Who is in your head? What controls you? Is it the Chitauri?"

Loki snarled in his face, though something of a grin curled at his lips. "It is she." He glanced down at the staff. "It is she."

Thor's heart mourned quietly for his brother. He should have listened, all those years ago. When Loki was content to believe she did not exist. That they were all forcing him to chase delusions. Those, somehow, were happier times. When it was not about the kingdom or power or ownership of land. When it was about exploration and growing up and being terrible nuisances to their mother and father and teachers and each other. When Loki focused on magic tricks and clever transformations, and Thor on strength and friendship. Before Loki was anything less than Aesir and before Siv was anything more than human.

"Why?" Thor struggled out. "Why is she doing this to you?"

Loki seemed to regain some kind of recognition. He seemed very much like a child, lost in the confusion. "She gave me power so that I may rule these lost and hungry creatures."

"Look at this!" Thor shouted, shaking his brother. "Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"

"It's too late," Loki murmured, blinking. "It's too late to stop it." He stared down at the fires that poured from windows, listened to the screams that drifted up into the sky.

"No," Thor said, searching Loki's face. "We can. Together."

Loki smiled, and for a brief moment, Thor had his old Loki back. But the hope was shattered with the dagger Loki shoved under Thor's armor. Thor dropped his hammer as he stumbled back. The pain he felt lay only in his longing for his brother's return.

"Sentiment," the lost King whispered, blue clouding his usually green eyes. He smiled.

Thor had enough. No more talk; it was time for action. He threw his brother into glass, picked him up over his head, dropped him to the cold stone floor. Loki rolled off the edge of the building, catching his flying chariot and disappearing into the throng of chaos. Thor stared after him, drowning in untold emotions. Thor pulled the silver dagger from his side. For a moment, Thor hoped it was tipped with that silly concoction from their childhood that gave him terrible runs. At least it would have meant Loki still acted on humor. But alas, it was not so nicely poisoned. In moments, Thor felt little coals explode under his skin. Worms hatched from their tiny eggs and began to crawl through his body.

Below, Thor's team of mortal friends were struggling to keep up with the fight. Thor flew down to their aid, destroying several Chitauri with his lightning on the way down. It felt very satisfying. He stumbled against a vehicle as he adjusted to the strange internal pain. He had no time to worry about these blasted creatures in his flesh. The humans needed him. He would protect them as well as he could.

"What's the story upstairs?" Rogers asked, coming forth.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor answered.

"Thor's right, we gotta focus on these guys," came Stark's voice into all ears but Thor's.

"How do we do this?" Romanoff asked.

"As a team," Rogers murmured.

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor growled, stepping forth to observe the skies.

"Yeah?" Barton asked, reclaiming as many arrows as he could. "Get in line."

Rogers stood between the three present, formulating a battle plan. Thor was quietly impressed with the mortal's ability to think quickly under such strange circumstances. A heavy purr rumbled under the noise and confusion. Banner hopped off a dying motorcycle, approaching them all with a sheepish smile. Banner was once again himself. And dressed. The mortals exchanged a few words, and they tensed on a silent instant. It was then Thor realized he could not hear Stark speaking with to the rest of them. Stark cut through the sky, an incredible beast on his tail.

Thor growled, readying for battle. It was yet another dark reminder that this time, Thor fought against is brother with the beasts, instead of alongside him. He wished they were bilgesnipes. He wished a great many things.

"I don't see how that's a party," Natasha said simply.

Banner grinned to himself as he started toward the beast.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry," Rogers suggested.

Banner turned his grin to his comrades. "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." And with a mighty roar, Banner erupted into that startling green beast of a giant, punching the oncoming squadron beast between its helmeted nostrils. His strength alone was enough to send the monster toppling over itself. Stark's miniature missile exploded the beast, sending soggy grey chunks of skin across all six of them and into the street below. The Chitauri shrieked in anger, the mortals with pride as the squadron came down.

But the battle was only just beginning.

"Send the rest," Loki whispered, locked in a neural link with his masters. Hordes of Chitauri soldiers flooded from the portal. The King watched with mild boredom as Thor used a metal building to amplify his lightning. Many of Loki's army never made it past the clouds. The ones that did were quickly exterminated by those annoyances named the _Avengers_. He grimaced as Romanoff took to the skies on the back of one of his soldier's chariots. He chased her through the fray, firing at her.

"Oh, _you_," she sighed, as though she had forgotten his existence entirely. "Hawkeye!" Romanoff narrowly dodged a flurry of blasts. "A little help?"

Loki growled. The marksman's loyalties were reconfigured. Barton shot an arrow at Loki's chest. The King caught it. Surely, Barton was not so proud of his skill to think that one measly arrow would fell him? But as Loki looked up to smirk, the arrowhead erupted in a great ball of fire. It sent him down again into Stark's tower. The damage done was quite extensive. A fraction of a second later, Banner burst through the very last window still intact. The beast slammed the King into a stone wall. Loki was quite through with the way his war was playing out.

He got to his feet. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed. The beast halted in confusion. "YOU ARE, ALL OF YOU, BENEATH ME! I AM A GOD, YOU DULL CREATURE! AND I WILL NOT BE BULLIED BY A– "

But whatever speech Loki planned to give was interrupted by a very sudden grab to his legs. The beast swung him around and threw him against the floor again and again; Loki likened himself to porcelain in the meaty hands of a giant toddler. It was not the first time.

"Puny god," Banner smirked as he stormed away.

One Loki-shaped hole graced the wall, the floor, six; he filled one quite nicely, left stunned in wounded pride and body. His mind was once again his own. The staff was long gone.

Erik Selvig hung over the edge of Stark tower. Blood caked his forehead. He was still alive. "The scepter," he struggled out.

"Doctor," Romanoff breathed, caught between helping Selvig and destroying the portal.

Selvig looked down once more. "Loki's scepter. The energy. The Tesseract can't fight, but you can't protect against yourself," he wheezed.

"It's not your fault," Romanoff assured. She had chosen to aid him. "You didn't know what you were doing."

Selvig paused, a glimmer sparking his old eyes. "Well, actually, I think I did. I built in a safety to cut their power source."

Romanoff frowned in surprise. "Loki's scepter," she repeated.

"It may be able to close the portal." Selvig looked down yet again. "And I'm looking right at it."

Moments later, Romanoff darted through Stark tower to reach the lower platform. She saw Loki in his cement grave, alive but coughing up blood and who knew what else as he laid there on his back. He made no move to get up as she ran past him. Gold threads wove under his armor and around the back of his head, mending shattered ribs and a cracked skull. He was going to have a hell of a concussion if he ever got up again, she thought with grim pleasure.

When she returned to the top of the tower, Selvig had pulled himself from the ground and set up the laptop that once controlled the portal. He could at least monitor it now as they tried to shut it down. The staff felt wrong in Natasha's hands. Alive, maybe. Downright sickly. Something rustled just behind her mental vision, rumbled in her ears amidst the rushing of her blood. Voices. Clint. Static. Was this what Loki heard? Was it some sort of curse? The Black Widow felt ten times more powerful and twenty times more vulnerable. She wanted to get that weapon out of her hands as soon as possible. Stark mentioned something about the way Loki used it to try and control him. As long as she didn't touch it to her own heart, she would be fine. She hoped.

"Right at the crown!" Selvig instructed.

The blade of the scepter cut through the Tesseract's force-field much easier than either had anticipated. "I can close it," Natasha gasped, "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."

"Do it!" Cap shouted.

"No, wait!" Stark interrupted.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Cap.

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it." Stark.

"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip." Cap.

But Stark said no more, shutting off his transmission.

Natasha could only wait. In moments, Tony Stark shuttled through the wrecked city on the undercarriage of a missile. The two narrowly missed blowing up Stark tower as he used the last of his battery on pushing the missile up into the portal. All around them, the Chitauri collapsed on their neural link like insects. The war was over. The missile must have made its mark. The Avengers searched the skies for Tony's return.

"Come on, Stark," Natasha whispered.

But there was no sign of him, and the explosion was fast approaching.

"Close it," Captain Rogers murmured over their earpiece.

Natasha forced the scepter into the heart of the Tesseract.

_'You've come back,'_ Siv whispered, accepting the shard back into its core. The two sisters, the twins, the light and dark of the same soul were at once rejoined as they plunged into the depths of the Tesseract. No more could the shard control the hearts with darkness. Loki's Siv, the true Siv, followed into the Tesseract. This war was over. Loki no longer needed her – no, she no longer needed Loki. The infinitely old being finally grew up. An even greater war was on the horizon, but this soul was heavy and needed rest. Both Siv's fell into an eternal winter, left to sleep for a while and move on, reborn.

The portal closed, swelling with a great blue wave of fire. The rest was Midgardian history.

҉

The battle was over. Teagan watched from the helicarrier a dozen and a half news channels all jittering with nerves about the event. Somehow, she no longer cared. How could she, when one of the two people she allowed herself to care about since the accident were killed. It was her fault. Coulson told her if she went to see Loki, she would jeopardize everyone on the ship; he was dead ten minutes later.

"I think you haven't been completely honest with me," Director Fury muttered from behind her.

It reminded her of Coulson. Were those his own mannerisms, or Fury's? It didn't matter now. Teagan shut down each news reel one by one before turning to face him. Without hesitation she explained everything. The three weeks in New Mexico. How the cube was activated. What she saw. How she felt. The girl. The god. The Tesseract.

Erik Selvig entered their little bubble of solitude, away from the flurry of agents that swirled around them. "I'm sorry for your loss," he whispered to the two of them, but mostly to Teagan. He knew just how much Coulson meant to her.

"Miss Hill, Dr. Selvig, you've both had a rough day at work," Fury nodded, looking between the two of them. "I told the Council that our Ass-Guardian friends flew the coop, but I'll let you in on a little secret. Thor and Loki are laying low in Norway right now, having a little family reunion with some old memories. We've got the Tesseract for exactly one week. Now, I'm willing to bet there's some data you're anxious to recover."

Teagan didn't even offer an empty smile. "With all due respect, sir, I think I'm done chasing gods and helping you find good clean energy to fuel your rocket launchers."

Selvig shrugged quietly beside her.

Fury lowered to Teagan's eye level, piercing her with his stare. "What if I told you that you could use it to bring Coulson back?"

Selvig and Little Hill immediately shared a look. "The research," they breathed.

_20:34_

_14.4.14_


	11. Loki's Sickness

The doctors put Coulson on ice after having taken him away from the scene. They could not remove him from the helicarrier. They would have to work there in a lab to bring the agent back. Coulson's internal organs were in need of replacement. Two of the doctors worked day and night to produce live-grown organs from his DNA. For any normal procedure, the process took weeks. They had only hours. They grew a new heart, a new lung, and a new trachea. Another three doctors worked to regrow his bones. They used something strange, a recreated model of regeneration technology coming out of the company A.I.M. With a heaping pile of luck, Coulson would be able to regrow his spinal column, his breastbone, and four ribs inside his own body. After five doctors had done as much as they could do, it was time to start the surgery. Five became eight as they cut Colson open and exchanged his vitals.

Selvig and Teagan oversaw from a neighboring room. The Tesseract was not responding to her like it had before. Something was wrong. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get a reaction out of it. Even Selvig's monitoring showed no change in energy. The doctors continued to ask their status. Coulson's body wasn't ready to be jumpstarted, but it was coming soon.

On the fourth night, something happened. One would call it a miracle. Teagan got down on her knees before the cube, clasped her hands tight, and prayed. Selvig left the room on the excuse of a coffee run.

"Siv," she started. "Coulson. If anyone's listening, anyone. . . If there's any god out there in the entire universe, I'm asking for help. . ."

And help she received. Coulson woke up too soon. None of the eight doctors had thought to put the lifeless body on an anesthetic; he exploded in a scream. The heart had been replaced, and his trachea, but he was still short a lung and the A.I.M. serum had not yet taken affect. They knocked him out quickly. It gave all of them quite a shock, but they had to work faster now. If Coulson was alive, he only had so long before his muscles and other organs deteriorated from lack of oxygen.

Again and again Coulson came around. The anesthetic wasn't powerful enough to subdue him completely, but any stronger and they might end up killing him again. Each time the screams were more powerful, more heartbreaking than the last. Coulson begged to be left for dead. The procedure was too painful, his memories too sharp of his final moments. Dr. Streiten, perhaps the only doctor with moral values present, opted to carry out Coulson's wish. He was ignored by his team, the scientists, and several agents. On the seventh morning, they started surgery on Coulson's temporal lobe. The war for Coulson's return was over. Once his memory was removed, he would be free of the pain, and he could live his life again.

When Coulson awoke, he found himself in a grass shack. He was at first disoriented. He wore a red and yellow printed shirt tucked into khaki shorts, black sandals, a grass hat, and his favorite pair of sunglasses. Someone mercifully thought to slather his nose in sunblock. Maria Hill entered the shack with two fruity-looking alcoholic beverages. She wore a smile on her face. A black one-piece swimsuit hugged her torso; a printed skirt was tied around her waist.

"Dream vacation in Tahiti and you're still in bed." Maria sat beside him, offering a beverage. "Welcome back to the world of the living. Have a good nap?"

"What happened?" he asked, tasting the drink. Mango. Phil suddenly couldn't remember if he liked mango. He tasted it again. It was alright.

"The portal was closed. The aliens were defeated. Thor and Loki took the Tesseract back to their neck of the woods. You were comatose for a couple days, but we had some doctors patch you up. Fury ordered that you take a vacation to heal."

Phil rubbed his chest, nodding. It hurt at the thought of . . . of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Yeah, I've _been_ needing that vacation for two damn years." Maria laughed. It sounded nice. They were quiet for a moment. "Is it just us?"

Maria shrugged. "You could say that. Unofficially, a handful of agents are around here, too. Some are keeping tabs to make sure you're okay, but most just wanted to jump ship after the incident was over." Coulson nodded, humming into his straw. Maria's smile fell. "Teagan went back home. The stress was too much for her, and she resigned. Said she didn't want to help us 'find clean energy for our rocket launchers'. Plus you gave her quite a scare. It was touch and go for a while there with you, Loki only barely missed your heart and we weren't sure if you were going to make it. She turned tail before she could see you were getting better. She probably thinks you're dead."

Phil nodded.

Maria patted his knee. "She'll keep going in your name, don't worry. You did good with her."

Phil smiled quietly.

"Speaking of 'dead', the Avengers all think you're dust in the wind. They'll keep on in your name, too."

"What, does everyone think I'm dead?" Phil grunted, standing.

"Only those who don't have Level 7 clearance." Maria stood as well. "Where are we headed, Coulson?"

"It's just Phil today. Let's go find some food, I'm starving. Tahiti is a real magical place."

When Phil returned to his post in America, he was just Coulson again, and Maria was just Hill. Only, there was no Little Hill tagging along beside them. Coulson and Hill parted ways as she was stationed to work with Level 9 clearance, and Coulson was stationed to monitor something called the Rising Tide. He had a growing hole in his heart for the lack of young women in his life to dote on and think of as his daughter. But he was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and familial relationships were dissuaded. When Coulson finally accepted his Hills were gone away, he met a girl named Skye, and the hole was filled.

҉

Loki rested with the healers.

Sickness of the body was uncommon, and sickness of the heart, even more so. Sickness of the brain was nigh unheard of. So it was difficult for the Aesir maids to concoct a remedy to soothe at once his aching limbs, the tear in his core, his broken spirit. His vision was swamped in strange colors, spots, patterns. He would chase one and it disappeared behind his peripheral vision. For many days he was not himself. He spoke in tongues, laughed at the empty walls. At night, he screamed. They could think of nothing to ease his pain but sleep. So, they cast an eternal slumber on him while they did their best to flush out the strange toxins that paraded through Loki's body. Night after night, Frigga joined him in the sickroom. She brought the old chair that sat between the brothers' beds in youth. A book graced her lap, though she hardly needed it. The Queen held it open before Loki as she read, so that maybe his dreams would not be haunted by night terrors but instead lulled by her voice to dream of his adolescence.

But Loki dreamt not of such a thing. He wandered Jotunheim, whether astrally or imaginarily, he did not know. He circled the air as a black hawk, searching for any signs of life. Nothing breathed. Nothing stirred. Hundreds of thousands of dead bodies littered the ground, telling their own story. With Laufey dead, the soldiers revolted against themselves, all fighting for the title of king. They murdered each other. Every citizen was a warrior. There were no common folk, no peasants. Only military.

Loki alighted on the cracked skull of one young child. He peered down at it, wondering its life. The little body was encased in something of an ashen shell. Inside, its organs still kept fresh; the decaying process of these monsters was a strange one. He had seen this before. Loki remembered his illegitimate offspring, how he flung it from the rocks in fright as the cold, blue, dead infant began to sob. The child underneath his talons began to writhe and cry. Loki felt the ghost of its blood flowing from the reanimated corpse. The child cried for him, wanted only affection. Loki clawed the life from the child, screeching; when he was sickened by the crusty flesh he flayed from its face, he took to the air once more.

On the horizon, a deep gouge cut through to the center of Jotunheim. This was the scar left behind from the Bifrost. The planet was little more than a moon, a frozen rock on which these horrid creatures once took refuge. If they could have accepted their inferiority, they would have been a happy people. Much like the Midgardians would have been, if not for their lethal stubbornness. One ice beast, but only a pup, cried as it searched for its parents. Its call would go unanswered, its hunger unsatisfied until it finally settled to feast on the corpses around it.

He also dreamt of the Chitauri, still a race very much alive in his mind. They cut away his flesh bit by bit, burning the scars in regular intervals. They chained him upside down from the edge of the cliff, draining his blood through tiny holes in his neck. It dripped down his face, in his ears, in his eyes. It matted his hair and pooled on the rocks below. They ripped his stomach open and let his intestines cascade over his ribs. Odin's elusive ravens, Hugin and Munin, perched on his jaunty hips and pecked away at his organs. And Siv, wicked Siv, danced around his body, sang songs of his death, fed him lies of her love. The staff was gone, long gone, destroyed, but he could still feel its affects.

While Frigga monitored Loki's sleep, Odin and Thor immersed themselves in kingly duties. With Jotunheim dead, Muspelheim sent fleet after fleet to claim the land. It was harsh terrain for any other in the nine realms, but it was downright ludicrous of the Fire Giants to think they could take on the climate. They claimed they could terraform it. And try they did. They brought great vats of liquid fire to pour on the lonesome kingdom in hopes of expanding their territory. Odin did his best to stop them from Asgard. When they did not listen to reason, he and his mighty son declared war against the Muspels. Jotunheim was to be another dead realm, forgotten by all but stories. Unfortunately, despite calling to war, it would be some time before Asgard was of any real significance in the War for Jotunheim.

But it was not just Muspelheim that acted out. Nornheim and Alfheim were at war once again. The dwarves and the light elves were never allies unless they banded against greater threats. But their greatest enemy was now destroyed, and they fought with themselves over rites of claim. Not only that, but the rock trolls of old Nidavellir caused chaos on their new home, Vanaheim.

There was only so much the Aesir could do from the sidelines. The Bifrost had yet to be rebuilt. While Heimdall repaired the bridge through use of the Tesseract, Asgard's defenses prepared for war.

Blacksmiths from the mountains were summoned to mass-produce weapons, armor, personal flyers, and a great many other things Thor once thought were outdated technologies. Many towers were fitted with these "outdated technologies", these machine guns. They were archaic at best; they spat out bullets of fire in the Destroyer's likeness, but were useful if any enemies invaded through the skies. Upon testing the power of the guns, Thor paled to see a slab of steel thicker than his arm be melted through like hot butter. They looked old, yes, but there was no denying their power.

While the machine guns made a comeback, the personal flyers also made a grand return. They were redesigned to match the Aesir's cultural beauty, though the symbolism was rather gruesome. The personal flyers once took a shape similar to a cross between the Midgardian planes and helicopters. Propellers were long since out of practicality in Aesir weaponry, though not out of fashion. A line of personal flyers in the shape of longboats awaited battle. The ferries of death. The undercarriage of these flyers were fitted with guns as well, and underneath the propellers, which sat fastened in place, a set of fire-fed respulsors glowed.

Months of construction and proof of progress could not ease the tense warriors. Preparation for war made them eager to join the fray. The King could only contain them for so long. He put many to work at Heimdall's disposal. The gatekeeper had no task for them involving the Tesseract, though he did set them to rebuilding the observatory. It was heavy work, but it helped calm Odin's legion. Heimdall's old observatory was never recovered from the bottom of the sea. They started again from scratch, first building a railing on the outsides of the bridge. They then flew parts molded from the smiths in the mountains to be assembled on a raised ledge. The soldiers were given instructions and were left to themselves as Heimdall toiled day and night with the cosmic cube.

To observers, he sat at the end of the bridge, staring at the cube in his hands. What they could not see were the hundreds of souls that flowed out of the Tesseract and through his fingers, content to resign their duties as life-givers and become the stone of which the bridge was originally constructed. Little by little, the shattered edges softened and grew together. Thin stripes littered the surface of the bridge, netting where the souls laced themselves to the age-old stone.

Heimdall's great power did not go unnoticed by the cube. The Tesseract invited to share with him several secrets of the universe, and many things he could not see with his All-Sight. He was awarded visions of death and destruction, several of which another Aesir was once plagued with in terrible nightmares. He saw fire and war and chaos running rampant through the universe, not unlike the chaos the nine realms now felt. In exchange for repairs to the Bifrost, the gatekeeper told the royal family every last detail of his new knowledge.

For two strenuous years, the Aesir toiled away as the realms fought each other.

For two painful years, Frigga sat by Loki's side in hopes of his awakening.

For two lonely years, Thor searched the stars for some signal of his mortal's safety.

For two mad years, Odin came to terms with his bloodline's failures.

҉

Loki awoke on the dawn of the winter solstice. Asgard was white with snow. The raven haired prince, clad only in a simple tunic and simple trousers, wandered the halls. Was it cold? It must have been cold. He could see his breath in clouds around his face. He did not feel cold. In fact, he felt wonderful. Better than he had felt for years. Siv was finally purged from his system. The bloodthirsty scoundrel no longer demanded his attention, no longer controlled his actions, no longer fed on his conscience. He felt . . . _free_.

But was that not life's great lie? Did he not crave subjugation? Loki laughed at himself, remembering the events, remembering how he fought the mortal he saved some seventy-odd years ago. It was but only one dream after another. He was never even present in the place called New York. It was Siv in control, and as long as Loki lived it would always be Siv in control. He would never take the blame. It was not his to take. Did his mother not say, however many hundreds of years ago, that the proud Aesir warrior in berserker armor could not even contain the power of the staff? How could he, a weak bastard prince, have any control, then? What would Odin do, throw him in the dungeon for being forcibly possessed by an evil race of miscreants? Ah, but was that not just like the blind old man?

Loki's laughter disturbed the guards who slept at their post. They went to urge the raven haired prince to return to the healers, where they could examine him and make sure he was fit for return. Loki would have none of it. The moment they reached for his arms, Loki became a monstrous wolf. The four guards had no time to prepare themselves for battle. Loki ate them whole. The wolf padded through the halls in search of a way to escape. Even if they trapped him, he would gnaw his own leg off to be freed. This palace, with all its great and many empty rooms, felt constricting. If he stayed one minute longer, he would suffocate. As the wolf searched for freedom, he found himself down a dark corridor. This was once the place he studied as a child, with Thor as his classmate and Heimdall occasionally as their teacher. The wolf panted nervously. Loki half expected to see a Frost Giant burst through one of the doors and smile down at him, before ripping him in half.

Perhaps the Jotun who aided Loki's infiltration was still alive. Perhaps it was locked in the dungeon to rot in a little white box. The beast who saw Loki in his Aesir form before he masked himself as a Jotun.

Two hundred years felt much longer than it should have been. How much simpler was life two hundred years ago? Clarice was still alive, then. He had a son, then.

The wolf trembled in rage.

From the end of the hall came several soldiers to corner the prince. Loki bared his teeth; in his search for freedom, he had wandered into a corner. _'Typical,'_ Loki thought angrily. One guard ordered the wolf's cooperation. An image of the red-haired Romanoff flashed in his mind; Loki howled and ripped his way through the entire patrol. Blood flooded the polished stone floors.

"Loki."

The wolf looked down. A woman stood in the middle of the hall. She raised no sword against him, though the look in her eyes made him fear his punishment.

"Loki, what have you done?" she breathed. She stepped toward him.

Loki lowered his wolf head and tucked his tail between his legs. _'It was an immediate reaction, Mother, I could not help myself. After the Chitauri, after the staff, I find myself unable to function.'_

Frigga eased through the hall, avoiding the blood. She understood his thoughts perfectly. "Your father will not let this go without severe punishment," she whispered, burying her face in his fur. Another woman once did the same. "Loki, I cannot protect you forever. You must answer for your crimes."

The wolf let out a short breath. _'When?'_

Frigga patted his fur, rubbed the blood from his nose. She gave a sad smile. "Tomorrow. You've awoken. You must attend trial for what you did." The wolf closed his eyes. Frigga's throat was tight with grief. "Oh, Loki," she sighed. "I wish you would have stayed in bed."

The wolf followed his mother out of the dark hall, away from the stench of Aesir blood. He burped; a golden helmet fell and rolled into the dark pool. A trail of giant paw prints followed him all the way back to the sickroom. He slept the day away.

After familiar fire-flooded nightmares, Loki was awoken by an entire squadron of guards. Many held their weapons to him as they bound him tight in chains. The prince donned a more appropriate mask – he was suddenly dressed in ceremonial garb, a snide and playful air about him. The guards were disgusted. How could such a creature be so arrogant, after killing a handful of soldiers in cold blood? There was talk that Loki was actually a Jotun child. That he was the one who ultimately caused all current wars. They were eager to believe it. They were never quite fond of Loki, anyway.

Loki was marched up to the throne room, where Odin fumed. The prince quickly realized this was not so much as a trial as it was a one-sided accusation and sentence. This was not a bird-cage crime. This was a dungeon crime. And even Odin's nasty temperament would not exaggerate how correct he was. In a moment of dark humor, Loki realized that he was finally receiving a just punishment. It only took a few hundred murders and three known acts of treason. Frigga stood at the foot of Odin's throne.

"Loki," she whispered.

The prince turned to her, flashing a smile. "Hello, Mother. Have I made you proud?"

Frigga winced. "Please, don't make this worse."

He no doubt faced a death sentence. "Define 'worse.'"

"Enough!" Odin snapped. "I will speak to the prisoner alone."

The All-Mother cast one last glance between her husband and her son before retreating.

Loki stepped forward, clicking his shackles together. "I really don't see what all the fuss is about," he admitted, scoffing. Was this trial for Midgard or the throne?

"Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go, there is war, ruin, and death."

Loki found himself agreeing with Odin on that. Still, he could not help his sarcastic anger. "I went down to Midgard to rule the people as a benevolent god." He grinned. "Just like you."

"We are not gods," Odin corrected. "We are born, we live, we die. Just as humans do."

Loki shrugged, nodding. "Give or take five thousand years."

The All-Father blinked slowly. He knew what became of the future of the nine realms. The longer this prince was allowed to live, the more destruction would rain down upon their heads. The Ragnarök meant the death of all. Odin was forced to choose the fate of the universe over the fate of one man. "All this because Loki desires a throne."

"It is my birthright," Loki voiced in annoyance. His playful demeanor vanished.

"Your birthright," Odin bellowed, "was to die, as a child! Cast out on a frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me." _'You would not be here now to threaten the safety of every living creature. I should have let you die.'_

Loki stepped forward once again. "If I'm for the ax, then for mercy's sake – just swing it. It's not that I don't love our little talks, it's just. . ." Loki paused. There were no other words. "I don't love them."

Odin was through speaking with the prisoner. "Frigga is the only reason you are still alive, and you will never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeons."

As the guards pulled him away by his leash of chains, Loki let out a whisper of a laugh. He saw the fear in Odin's eyes. The prince now knew why Frigga was so upset the night before, to see him standing in blood. They imprisoned him on the charge of imagined war. At least he had known this day was coming.

"And what of Thor?" Loki asked as he stepped down. "You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?"

"Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done. He will bring order to the nine realms, and then, yes," Odin flashed a wry smile. "He will be king."

Loki was led away to the dungeons.

_19:57_

_17.4.14_


	12. Goodbye, Mother

A few months after Loki's sentence, the Bifrost's repairs were complete. Heimdall immediately went to his king. Odin and Thor, with a legion of warriors, went first to Jotunheim where they vanquished the Muspel forces. Muspelheim retreated to tend to their wounds. The fire realm was not crushed, but it would take several long years to rebuild their army. Once Jotunheim was preserved, Thor parted ways with his father. Odin led his legion to stop the war between Nornheim and Alfheim's capital, Ria. Thor travelled to Vanaheim to aid his dear friend Hogun. Vanaheim's raiders proved to be a difficult bunch. The Vanir were mostly a peaceful race, and the Nidavellir of old Nornheim were quite the opposite. In fact, Odin once banished these mongrels to Vanaheim when Nidavellir was at war with itself; with the bandits gone, the realm of Nidavellir became Nornheim. The marauders were sentenced to peaceful life among the Vanir. And they _were_ peaceful, mostly, for eight hundred years.

That was, until they found that Odin could not reach them.

Lady Sif and the Warriors Three provided the best help they could against the Nidavellir. But without Thor, their attacks were futile. Even the Einherjar, the strongest Aesir warriors, found it difficult to subdue the Nidavellir.

From out of a bolt of light came Mjølnir, and after the famed weapon, its master. Thor cleared a small portion of the bandits away with a heavy blast of lightning. Sif turned to him, fuming. "I've got this completely under control!" she shouted.

Thor smirked. "Is that why everything is on fire?" And then he was swept into battle as three Nidavellir took him from behind. Amidst the clashing, Thor made note of where his friends were. They seemed to be uninjured, though frustrated with the current outcome of the battle. Thor threw his hammer to strike down a foe; behind him, a creature with a spear took his chances. Sif threw up her shield to block the strike. Thor only turned for the strange noise of metal against metal.

"You're welcome," she growled.

From the distance came a mighty roar. The earth reverberated with heavy thuds. All battle ceased as a rock troll cleared the smoke. Thor gave a quiet sigh. The troll batted away an Aesir with no effort at all; the man went flying. The Nidavellir cheered.

"All yours," Sif said simply.

Thor frowned at her as he stepped forth. The god and the beast met in the center of the crowd. The troll roared, slamming its club into the ground.

"Hello," Thor greeted it. The beast snarled at him. For being made of stones, it had terrible breath. "I accept your surrender." The marauders all laughed heartily. They had no cause to believe Thor would survive this battle, if he fought anything like his comrades. They knew not Thor's strength. Thor chuckled at their disbelief as he swung Mjølnir at his side. In a blink, the rock troll was reduced to rubble.

Thor sniffed. "Anyone else?"

The Nidavellir fell silent and accepted their defeat.

Fandral's head appeared over the kneeling mongrels. "Perhaps next time we should _start_ with the big one," he suggested.

The Nidavellir were gathered and bound by the Aesir warriors. Thor, Sif, and the Three offered their help to clean the mess. The Vanir were grateful. Hogun came to Thor's side. "Where do we go next?" he asked.

"Hogun, the peace is nearly won across the nine realms." Thor turned to face his friend. "You should stay here. Be with your people, where your heart is. Asgard can wait."

Hogun the Grim offered a sincere smile, shook hands in gratitude. "You have my thanks," he murmured.

"As you have mine," Thor nodded. Hogun left his side and the golden haired prince turned his eyes to the sky. "Heimdall, when you're ready."

Heimdall opened the Bifrost, now an immediate action, and Thor went to his father to share news of triumph. After the brief meeting, he rinsed the grime from his neck and shoulders in his wash basin; when that was not enough, he retreated to the bath hall where he settled into the mineral pool for a much needed soak. The floor stones were cold, though the air was warm with mist. Thor rested his head against the edge of the sandstone and mulled over his thoughts.

The nine realms were finally at peace. Jotunheim, Helheim, and Svartalfheim were as dead as they were ever going to get. Ria invoked a peace treaty between Alfheim and Nornheim. Muspelheim was silent. Midgard was Midgard. Vanaheim's marauders were being collected and sent to the Asgardian dungeons. Thor rubbed his face. Loki resided somewhere down there as well. The golden haired prince wondered if he even knew why he was imprisoned. Odin never did make his punishments very clear during their childhood. Perhaps if Loki had been present at the council, Thor would not feel so guilty. But Loki was asleep then, and if they woke him, who knew what would have happened to his fractured mind.

A voice haunted Thor's mind as he recalled the council. It was Odin, retelling the curse old King Bor placed on his son in his last breaths.

_''A blood feud shall begin the Ragnarök. All will perish under his name – a prince, born in eternal winter, shall return the land to his birthright; four years of winter mark the beginning of the end.''_

Well, they had not witnessed such weather yet. And Asgard's royalty was marked with years of blood feuds. It was nothing new.

_''Where he walks, a river of blood shall follow. Disguises he prefers, he shall never show his true face except under the light of hatred. Malice born of mischief hollows the crown.''_

Thor pinched his bottom lip in thought. Loki did seem to birth destruction. Still, soldiers were soldiers and all of Asgard's defenders were guilty of murder. How else were they to destroy their enemies? In reference to malice-born mischief, Thor was not innocent. His adolescent years were full of such evils. An unworthy crown for such a thing paid no mind to all the other kings in history whose royalties were secured through another's death.

_''Unto him, a curse of love.''_

That was unarguable; Thor knew firsthand Loki's terrible luck with Siv.

_''Unto you, a curse of hate.''_

If Odin knew his was cursed to hate, then why not make an effort to deny it? Perhaps if Loki had been treated as well as Thor, the raven haired prince would not be such a mess today.

_''War and death will purge all the nine realms, unforgiving and uncaring of the innocent; he shall be the king of nothing; death makes time irrelevant, and grief makes time evanescent. Time is vindictive, and strives only to break her already broken cycle.''_

Three realms were already considered dead. Loki destroyed Jotunheim with the Bifrost – if he was supposed to be a Jotun king, he destroyed his own kingdom. That would warrant being king of nothing. Though, Thor was beginning to have reservations against being king of Asgard. And if what they said about the Tesseract was true, then Siv was gone and her soul's cycle should have been reset. No more Siv to muck things up.

But even Thor, with all his intentions good and worthy, could not let himself be blinded of the signs. This threat of universal death was very real. Loki had already proved himself capable of killing on a whim. His adamancy frightened the golden haired prince. To see five of the six live realms simultaneously at war made Thor uneasy. There was peace, for now. Tensions were always high directly after a battle.

As much as Thor wanted to save Loki from perdition, his brother was safer in a cell than at the mercy of a hall of fearful old kings. Thor removed himself from the bath, dressed, and went to celebrate with his friends. When he could no longer be in the company of cheery souls, he went to Heimdall. Thor journeyed to the observatory on foot, enjoying the rhythmic lapping of the waves far below him, and the smell of sea salt in the wind. He approached the mouth of the now-spired observatory with heavy feet.

"You're late," said the gatekeeper.

"Merriment can sometimes be a heavier burden than battle," Thor replied, a tired grin to his voice.

Heimdall might have smiled. "Then you are doing one of them incorrectly."

Thor chuckled. "Perhaps. How fare the stars?"

"Still shining," Heimdall reported. "From here, I can see nine realms and ten trillion souls." The gatekeeper and overseer looked toward his prince. He lowered his sword into the control panel and shut down the Bifrost for the night. "Do you recall what I taught you of the Convergence?"

Thor nodded. "Yes." He remembered it faintly, as an image in his mind rather than a concept. He also remembered having not paid much attention to that lesson. "The alignment of the worlds. It approaches, doesn't it?"

"The universe has not seen this marvel since before my watch began." Heimdall stepped down from his platform to join Thor's side. "Few can sense it. Even fewer can see it. But while its effects can be dangerous, it is truly beautiful."

The golden haired prince searched the cosmos. "I see nothing."

"Or, perhaps, that is not the beauty you seek."

Thor gave a sheepish grin, chuckling once more. Heimdall was right. The weary prince turned his eye to the general direction of Midgard. "How is she?"

"She is quite clever, your mortal. She doesn't know it yet, but she studies the Convergence as well. Even," Heimdall stepped closer to the stars. He never finished his sentence.

"What?" Thor asked.

The gatekeeper and overseer had lost sight of Jane.

Thor fled to Midgard in search of her.

҉

Once every day for three and a half months, Frigga visited her raven haired prince in the dungeon. They offered the same greetings, spoke the same phrases, fought the same arguments, and bid the same farewells. Loki sighed to hear those words fall on deaf ears. Once every day for three and a half months, Frigga brought her raven haired prince a meal from the dining hall. It consisted of meat, and fish, and fruits, and breads, and wine. Loki delighted to taste the work of the Aesir chefs while all else in the dungeons received gruel. Once every day for three and a half months, Frigga sent her raven haired prince another item from his collection. She gave him books, and puzzles, and a bed, and a table, and a chair, and snacks, and alcohol. Loki smirked to see his dungeonmates seethe in jealousy from their plain white cells.

Each time she visited, Loki cloaked himself in the same ceremonial garb from the trial, and adopted the same snide and playful air. Underneath, he still felt just as beaten and ill as the dawn he finally awoke.

"Odin continues to bring me new friends. How . . . thoughtful," Loki insinuated, watching from the cell as the guards paraded more prisoners down the hall.

"The books I sent, do they not interest you?" Frigga asked.

Loki turned to face her, blank faced, though his eyes betrayed his annoyance. "Is that how I am to while away eternity? Reading?"

"I've done everything in my power to make you comfortable, Loki," she murmured.

"Have you? Does Odin share your concern? Does Thor?" He placed his hands on the table, leaning toward her. "It must be _so_ inconvenient, them asking after me day and night."

Frigga remained unamused. "You know full well it was your actions that brought you here."

Ah, even after every disagreement for three and a half months, the Queen still believed this imprisonment was the result of his actions. Not of a prophecy. "My actions?" he repeated, gesturing to himself. "I was merely giving truth to the lie that I had been fed my entire life. That I was born to be a king." He walked away from her.

"A king?" Frigga chided. "A true king admits his faults."

_'Odin never seemed to pick up on that,'_ he thought smugly.

"What of the lives you took on Earth?"

Loki scoffed. "A mere handful compared to the number that Odin has taken himself." Here they were, back to the same blasted quarrel. Next, she would start her sentence with "Your father".

Frigga sighed. "Your father– "

"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!" Loki snarled.

The Queen did not flinch. "Then am I not your mother?" she asked.

Loki was taken aback. This was not how this argument finished. But then, he had never raised his voice to her. He had not done so since the last time he was imprisoned. He swallowed and straightened. "You're not," he answered.

Frigga gave a weak chuckle, holding back her tears. "You're always so perceptive about everyone but yourself," she whispered. Loki shook his head and dismissed her doppelgänger. His own apparition faded from her mirror, a reflection pool hidden in the floor of her sitting room.

"You still see good in him, don't you?" Thor asked quietly, approaching his mother.

Frigga turned quickly, a bright smile gracing her face. "Welcome home, son," she greeted.

"Why indulge him in gifts, visits?"

Frigga sported a grin that seemed very much like her raven haired prince. "I think if you ask his guards, they will tell you I was never there." She took her son's arm and led him away from the room.

It pained the mighty Thor to say this, but he had to. "Mother, Loki is not the boy you once knew."

"Nor are you," she countered. "And I loved you no less when your father banished you to Earth."

They strolled leisurely down the corridor. "Do you ever regret sharing your magic with him?" Thor questioned.

"No," she smiled. "You and your father cast large shadows. I had hoped, that, by sharing my gifts with Loki, he could find some sun for himself."

Thor chuckled. In spite of every warning and threat they faced, Frigga still held hope. "I admire your optimism, and your compassion. I wish I could still share it."

"Now, am I to take it, by your presence, that the nine realms still stand?" She would not let him turn this conversation toward that dreadful topic.

"Yes, they do. I came to give Father the good news."

"You thought to find him here?" she scoffed. "You will find him where he is most at ease."

And with that, Thor left his mother by a balcony. Truthfully, Odin already knew the outcome of Thor's battles. He suspected Frigga knew that as well. Instead of going to find the King, he joined his mortal in the courtyard. She fit the Asgardian dress very well, seeming only out of place due to her childlike fascination with the world. Thor refused to let himself think that this is what Clarice must have been like, however many years ago it was. He was a child then, in mind. Those were terribly embarrassing years to recall.

҉

Loki laid in his bed, tossing a simple cup in the air above him. He still cloaked himself in that mask of health. He could not let the other prisoners see him as weak. They must fear him from their cells. His mind ran the same clip over and over in his tired mind.

_"Then am I not your mother?"_

_ "You're not."_

Suddenly, a great clamor rose from the cell across the hall. Loki paused, focusing on the noise. A brawl? No, the prisoners screamed in terror. Murder, then. The lights of his cell dimmed and Loki pulled himself up to examine the chaos.

A great beam of fiery light exploded from one body, then thick clouds of dark smoke. It all looked rather unpleasant from Loki's little corner of solitude. He could only imagine how the other captives felt. A great beast roared from the mess. The guards neared the cell, but what could they do? The fire beast used the face of one inmate as a shield while it shattered the electric wall. As soon as the magic was broken, the horns were sounded. With just a touch, the beast ripped the life out of the Aesir warriors. It proceeded to let several other prisoners out of their cages; however, it paused when it reached the prince. Loki smirked.

_'I dare you to let me out,'_ Loki taunted. The beast backed down from his cell. _'Smart.'_

Still, he could not leave a fellow _friend_ in need. "You might want to take the stairs to the left," Loki suggested.

A hoard of soldiers flooded into the dungeons to stop the rampage. Could they not see this was merely a distraction? Loki sighed as he retired to the ledge, mindlessly flipping through one of the many books in his expanding collection.

"It's as if they resent being imprisoned!" came Fandral's voice above the fray.

"There's no pleasing some creatures!" Volstaag responded.

Loki curled his upper lip. Somehow, it felt like they referred to him. He licked his finger and flipped a page. Surely there was something more interesting inside these covers than out there in the madness.

"Return to your cells and no further harm will come to you. You have my word."

"Thor, please," Loki scoffed under his breath.

The prisoners were soon contained and tensions died down. That was, until a great and heavy thudding came from the ceiling and knocked loose several clouds of dust. Thor, on instinct and out of fear, looked toward the raven haired prince. Loki, though unsure what to make of the chaos above, felt his heart drop to see even Thor's eyes accusing him of the sound. They parted glances as quickly as it had come; a few soldiers ran down the hall. "The throne of Asgard is destroyed! To the king!" they shouted. Thor, Fandral, and Volstaag followed them out of the dungeon. Loki retreated to his chair, where he sat and listened quietly.

If he strained, he swore he could hear the muffled sound of his mother's – of Frigga's fighting. But then the scuffling ceased, and a great clash of thunder shook his ears. An awful stretch of silence followed. It cloaked the entire palace, settling like the dust that poured through the ceiling. It made Loki pace to feel the tense atmosphere. The air itself mourned, though Loki could not understand why. The raven haired prince finally settled into his chair to read over the same pages he browsed earlier.

Later that night, a guard came to his cell, removed his helmet, and bore the terrible news.

Frigga was dead.

_1:06_

_20.4.14 _


	13. As I Truly Am

He seemed well enough at first.

Upsetting furniture was not unexpected, though to merely stand for hours and clench one's fists was considered mild-mannered. The Aesir guards whispered amongst themselves, pitying that pathetic imprisoned prince. They could not see the magic behind the movement – the doppelgänger created to dissuade their approach.

Behind the mask, a storm of anger raged against every surface. He pulled his bookshelf to the ground, tore pages from the volumes by the handful, burned them to cinders in his palms. He grabbed his bed by the end, upturned it, ripped apart his sheets. He stomped though the table, the chair, and kicked the bowl of fruit clear across the room. He threw his crystal vessel of alcohol against the wall opposite him; it shattered into a hundred thousand tiny shards. The fiery drink sprayed across the floor, igniting several books still semi-intact. The prince, still clothed in only a simple tunic and simple trousers, felt the splinters lodge into his heels. He invited the pain; he refused to heal himself with magic, leaving splatters of blood across the white floor. Still, his anger was not satiated. He became a hawk and crushed fruits between his talons in a bloody mess. He became a wolf and shook apart his pillows. He became a bear and clawed at the walls.

His strength faded, and he reverted back to an Aesir, slamming his palms into the wall again and again. Great black streaks mirrored the scores. Ashes from the fires. Loki slumped against the wall, down into the pile of shards, and screamed.

He screamed from his core, from the pit of fiery hot rage that swelled inside of him. This kind of hatred for the entire universe was something Loki did not know he had. The room burst into flames, the tangible proof of his rage, hatred, _guilt_. He screamed and screamed until he could scream no more, for his tired throat would not let him. When he could not scream, the fire ceased. The broken prince reverted to seethe in a silence so cold, the room froze over. A blizzard encased him in ice. He lost his Aesir form and became a Jotun. That ugly monstrous truth gleamed back at him from the broken glass, now a mirror.

"How was the funeral?" a guard whispered outside the cell. Loki's doppelgänger twitched, turning his ear ever so slightly to listen in.

"Miserable," the approaching guard responded. "Odin could not speak for his heavy heart. Have you heard word, or shall I tell you?"

The third guard cleared his throat and jerked his head toward the prince. The three looked up. The mild-mannered Loki stood still and clenched his fists. The first guard lowered his gaze.

The second guard gave a terse frown. He seemed to be more polite than his comrades. They would not have told Loki news of the funeral. He was a prisoner, why would he care? But he was also a prince, and the second guard knew better. "The Convergence nears, and the dark elves of Svartalfheim have come back from the dead. They still seek the Aether, which resides in one of Thor's mortal companions. He brought her to Midgard to protect her, but the dark elf leader, Malekith, followed the scent of power. The All-Mother died protecting the mortal. She trusted that the prince would find a way to vanquish our returning enemies."

"Tis foolish that our beloved Queen threw her life away for so short-lived a creature," muttered the third guard.

The first guard shifted on his feet. "She always had faith when no one else could. It was because of her that our King has lasted so long. What will happen now?"

The second guard narrowed his eyes. "We will live like she lived, having faith where there is none. It is not yet the end."

"She had faith in me," Loki spoke up. The three guards turned to him again. "She had faith in me, and look where I am. Do you know why I am here? Do you know why I am imprisoned? A prophecy uttered two thousand years ago has resurfaced, and the All-Father accuses me of being the one to carry out the curse. Frigga had faith that I would not start the Ragnarök, and look where we all are now."

The guards kept quiet.

"Do not hold onto blind faith. You will receive nothing but disappointment."

The guards bowed their heads and shuffled further into the dungeons, where they questioned amongst themselves the truth in Loki's words. It was always hard to tell with the God of Lies.

҉

Thor trudged his way to the throne room. Jane's plea echoed in his mind.

'"_Please, I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."'_

Thor shook his head. Trapping Jane in a sitting room was far less efficient than letting her join his side in the coming hours before the Convergence. The mighty prince wanted only to keep her safe. A small council gathered before the shattered throne. It still made Thor's heart drop to see it in pieces, to see the strange ship laying unceremoniously in a pile of broken columns. Odin, Fandral, Volstaag, and a few soldiers Thor did not know stood around a holographic display of the palace.

"We are still unable to restore the palace shields," came Fandral's voice. "Our artillery cannot detect them, even Heimdall cannot see them. My king, we are all but defenseless."

"She is your prisoner now?" Thor spoke up, coming toward them.

Odin faced his son with a strange mixture of emotions. "Leave us," the king ordered, and the council dispersed. "I do not wish to fight with you," Odin sighed once the hall was cleared, stepping past the crown prince.

"Nor I with you, but I intend to pursue Malekith." Thor turned after his father.

"We possess the Aether. Malekith will come to us."

"Yes, and he will destroy us," Thor countered.

"You overestimate the power of these creatures," Odin chided.

Thor felt an odd twinge of fear grip at the pits of his stomach. "No, I value our people's lives. I'll take Jane to the Dark World and draw the enemy away from Asgard." Odin stopped. Fear was replaced with hope. "When Malekith pulls the Aether from Jane, it will be exposed and vulnerable. And I will destroy it, and him."

Odin turned to face Thor and the throne. "If you fail, you risk this weapon falling into the hands of our enemies."

"The risk is far greater if we do nothing," Thor pleaded. "His ship could be over our heads right now and we would never even know it."

The King dismissed his concerns. "If and when he comes, his men will fall on ten thousand Asgardian blades."

The golden haired prince would not be ignored so easily. "And how many of our men shall fall on theirs?"

"As many as are needed!" Odin snapped.

Thor winced, swallowing. It took great strength to not recoil, to hold himself steady.

Odin trembled, leaning heavily on his weapon. Thor wanted to go to his father; such grief and stress would send the aging king into the Odinsleep. But the All-Father would not bend to his weakness. "We will fight!" he snarled. "Til the last Asgardian breath. Til the last drop of Asgardian blood."

Thor shook his head. "Then how are you different from Malekith?" he murmured.

Odin gave a hollow laugh. It was spiteful. Hateful. "The difference, my son, is that I will win." And he turned, walked away, left Thor to stand before the broken throne.

"Is that the only difference, Father?" Thor whispered. "Is our victory the only thing that separates us from our enemy? Are we just as cruel, as vicious, as merciless as they? How can I stand by you and your decisions when I now see the faults Loki has seen all his life? How can I still believe with half a heart that Loki's death will put a stop to this madness that spins on around us, when you cannot even say one word in Mother's honor? You are suffering, Father. I cannot let our kingdom fall." And Thor left the throne room as well, retreating to an empty pub on the outskirts of the city.

Hardly half an hour after the prince sat with his goblet, a familiar figure drew near. Thor would have grinned had he the heart. He knew Heimdall would have heard his whisperings before the throne. "You were not at Odin's war council," Thor noted.

Heimdall waved a hand over the warmth of a fire pit, removed his helmet. "The Bifrost is closed by your father's orders. No one is to come or to go."

Thor nodded quietly. He suspected as much.

"We face an enemy that is invisible even to me. What use is a guardian such as that?" The gatekeeper and overseer sat heavily. There were far too many things in his life that he was unable to see. When one is gifted with the overwhelming power to see all, one pays special attention to that which is hidden. Many of Loki's movements were blocked, but in time, that came to be expected. However, the dark elves were quite another matter, and were also much more dangerous.

"Malekith will return, you know this." Their eyes met; Heimdall cast him a knowing look. Thor lowered his voice. "I need your help."

"I cannot overrule my king's wishes. Not even for you." He was not going to be accused of treason after all of this was over. He had too much of a guilty conscience, too many past favors weighing on his chest already.

Thor shook his head. "I am not asking you to," he assured. "The realms need their All-Father strong and unchallenged, whether he is or not. But he is blinded, Heimdall, by hatred and by grief."

Heimdall flashed an empty smirk. "As are we all."

"I see clearly enough," Thor responded.

"The risks are too great," Heimdall tried. There was little he could do to dissuade Thor, but it would not hurt to try.

"Everything we do from here on is a risk. There is no other way."

The gatekeeper dropped his head. "What do you require of me?"

"What I am about to ask of you is treason of the highest order. Success will bring us exile and failure shall mean our death. Malekith knew the Aether was here. He can sense its power. If we do nothing, he will come for it again, but this time, lay waste to all of Asgard. . . ."

҉

In the darkest hours of night, Thor held conference in a hidden dwelling with Heimdall, Sif, Volstaag, and Fandral. The four warriors sat at a round table, illuminated by the sparsest candlelight. The gatekeeper stood behind them, his back to the wall.

"We must move Jane off-world," Thor started.

"The Bifrost has been shut down and the Tesseract locked away in the vault," Sif said immediately. Thor anxiously rubbed his wrists.

"There are other paths off Asgard," Heimdall answered. "Ways known only to a few." Again, a lengthy list of things Loki kept hidden.

"One, actually," Thor murmured.

Sif cocked her head in angry disbelief. Fandral turned various shades of white and grey. Volstaag looked as though he had just received word that his children were murdered.

"He will betray you," Fandral said after a few moment's deep breathing.

"He will try," Thor agreed.

"Well, what then?" Fandral asked, clapping the table. "Your lovely mortal is being guarded by a legion of Einherjar who will see you coming from miles away."

"I won't be the one who comes for her," Thor responded simply, glancing at Sif.

The Valkyrie gave another stare of angry disbelief. "And what of the All-Father?"

"It is my sworn duty to notify him of crimes against the throne," Heimdall answered.

Volstaag rocked on his chair. It groaned in protest. "Assuming you can get Loki's help, _and_ you can free this mortal, what good would it do? We'd all be dead the minute we step outside the palace." And Volstaag much rather preferred to die in a glorious nine-realm war than in aiding an escape.

Thor nodded. "That, my friend, is why we won't be leaving by foot."

Another round of angry disbelief, anxious wrist-rubbing, upset stomachs, and somber expressions for all.

҉

"Thor. After all this time, now you come to visit me?"

Thor approached his cell, grim.

"Why?"

No answer.

"Have you come to gloat? To mock?"

"Loki, enough. No more illusions."

Loki bowed his head and the doppelgänger vanished, along with the pristine cell. The room was a disaster, the furniture destroyed and the man inside, shattered. Ashen claw marks haloed his head; blood dripped from his feet and left footprints around the room. The remnants seemed brittle, charred by hot fire and frozen in bitter wind. "Now you see me, _Brother_," Loki struggled out, voice harsh. _'Now you see me as I truly am.'_ Thor eased quietly toward the other clear wall, closer to where Loki sat. "Did she suffer?" he asked.

"I did not come here to share our grief," Thor replied, anxiously rubbing his wrists. "Instead, I offer you the chance of a far richer sacrament."

Loki tilted his head, noting Thor's anxiety. "Go on," he demanded.

"I know you seek vengeance as much as I do. You help me escape Asgard, and I will grant it to you – vengeance – and afterward, this cell."

Loki weighed the options and chuckled. "You must be truly desperate to come to me for help," he croaked. "What makes you think you can trust me?" The god of lies, the murderer, the end-all?

"I don't." Thor paused. "Mother did." The answer forced the broken prince to swallow back his anger in the form of bile. "But you should know that when we fought each other in the past, I did so with a glimmer of hope that my brother was still in there somewhere. That hope no longer exists to protect you. You betray me, and I will kill you."

Loki hummed._ 'Ah, yes, kill me like Odin wants. Mask your obedience with empty words, with your desire to save your beloved mortal. I see the soldier's hatred in your eyes. You try to be a better man, but you will always be the same foolish boy I grew up with. You cannot change, Thor. Nor can I. Just how far will you go? To whom will your loyalties remain? Which drowning man will you imprudently save? Let us play another killing game. Let us play seek-and-find.' _And in Thor's eyes, Loki saw an agreement. "When do we start?"

Moments later, the princes darted through the halls. Thor kept a sharp eye on everything, continuing to turn at every imagined sound; it was only the echoes of their heavy heels. Loki, clad once again in his ceremonial garb, his snide and playful air, was forced to trot to keep up with Thor's anxious stride. "This is so unlike you, _Brother_," Loki smirked. "So clandestine. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just punch your way out?"

"You keep speaking and I just might," Thor growled.

Loki shrugged. "Fine, as you wish. I am not even here." Loki became a common guard in silver armor and a golden cape and a helmet somewhere between a pair of horns and a fish's fin. "There, is this better?"

"Better company, at least," Thor muttered under his breath.

"Still, we could be less conspicuous," Loki mused.

Thor became Sif as she (he) turned to glance behind. Suddenly, everything seemed to be much taller.

"Mm, _Brother_," Loki snickered, "you look ravishing."

Thor looked down and rolled his eyes. "It will hurt no less when I kill you in this form." Thor's deep voice amazingly fit Sif's body.

"Very well," Loki grinned. "Perhaps you prefer one of your new companions, given that you seem to like them so much." Thor became himself, and Loki, Captain Steve Rogers. Complete with star-spangled uniform and shield. Loki considered it a small tribute to the man he had decided to save in the ice. "Oh, this is much better," he purred. "The costume is a bit much. So tight. But the confidence! I can feel the righteousness surging! Hey, wanna have a rousing discussion about truth? Honor? Patriotism? God bless Ameri–!" But Thor clapped a hand to Steve's (Loki's) mouth and shoved him into a pillar. "What?" Loki hissed in annoyance, again himself.

He followed Thor's glance to a watch of two soldiers.

"You could at least furnish me with a weapon. My daggers, _something_." Thor eyed him quietly and removed a sickle-like blade from behind his cloak. "At last," Loki smirked, "a little common sense." The final word hissed out as something cold hit the top of his wrists. He looked down to see himself shackled. He glared at Thor.

Thor smirked. "And I thought you liked tricks."

The two rounded the corner. The soldiers looked at them in surprise, as if they could not fathom seeing Thor and Loki together on a walk. Thor set down his hammer. "And how is that a good idea?" Loki genuinely asked. Thor gave him a look and walked toward the soldiers, made quick work of them, retrieved his hammer, and marched to the opposite end of the hall. Loki followed, fighting quietly with his cuffs. Lady Sif and another woman came toward them posthaste.

"You're. . .?" the woman breathed, nearing the raven haired prince.

"I'm Loki. You may have heard of me." Suddenly his head swiveled on his neck so fast, he felt it crack. He let out a surprised sigh. The mortal had slapped him. The force did not hurt, though it was unexpected. So this was Jane Foster.

"That was for New York," Jane growled.

"I like her," Loki grinned, looking up at Thor.

A great clanking approached. "There they are!" Odin's top war general, Tyr, shouted. "Take them on my command."

"I'll hold them off. Take her," Sif nodded to Jane.

"Thank you," Thor nodded.

Behind them, Loki studied the mortal. Many thoughts filled his head, in fragments, unlike the usual cohesive sentences. Mostly it consisted of, _'why her?'_ and _'so plain'_ and _'has he still not learned?'_ and _'she'll die soon, like all the rest'_. They all moved to leave. Sif held her blade to Loki's throat.

"Betray him, and I'll kill you," she hissed.

Loki gave a dark chuckle, eyeing her. "It's good to see you too, Sif," he murmured, looking her over. They shared a brief, forbidden memory; Sif let him pass.

They made their way to the throne room, where a large ship awaited them in the debris, and before that, an even larger man. "I will give you as much time as I can," Volstaag nodded.

"Thank you, my friend," Thor smiled, gratefully shaking hands.

'_Look at you, minding your manners,'_ Loki thought incredulously, casting a scathing eye toward him. The mortal blushed to see him act so chivalrously. Again, Thor and Jane were let forward. Again, Loki was stopped. He was sensing a pattern.

"If you even think about betraying him," Volstaag started.

"You'll kill me?" Loki finished, smiling brightly. He bounced back on his heel. "Evidently, there will be a line."

They boarded the dark ship. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust; Thor sighed, grimacing in the shadows. He gave the controls a few awkward jabs. The control panel whirred in annoyance.

"I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing," Loki questioned, leaning over Thor's shoulder.

"I said, 'How hard could it be?'" he growled, trying the other side of the panel. Jane stood back, unsure of what to do. Outside the ship, the sound of battle grew louder and louder.

"Well, whatever you're doing, Brother, I suggest you do it faster." He had not meant to say "brother" that time; it slipped out before he could stop himself. He blamed it on sarcasm.

"Shut up, Loki," Thor growled, either to the full comment or the brother jab, Loki did not know. Loki unfortunately did not shut up.

"You must have missed something."

"No I didn't, I'm pressing every button on this thing." Thor's patience was quite tried.

"No, don't hit it, just press it gently."

"I am pressing it gently!" Thor resorted to slapping the dashboard. "It's not working!" Jane studied her shoes quietly. But the display powered up and a blue hologram of the throne room illuminated the ship. Thor gave a proud chuckle. Loki rolled his eyes. With the lights on, it was much easier to see. Thor handled the controls, powered the engine, rose the beast slowly into the air. The ship began to turn, and Thor had a difficult time stopping it. They regained balance.

"I think you missed a column," Loki said.

"Shut up!" Thor snapped. The ship burst through the only solid thing left in the throne room and then they were flying over Asgard. The ship continued to jolt and turn and spin, making Jane nauseous.

"Look, why don't you let me take over? I'm clearly the better pilot." It was true; he had managed to fly a Chitauri chariot with no prior experience, and he could bank better than any of the wretched creatures.

"Is that right?" Thor snorted. "Well, out of the two of us, which one can actually fly?"

"You don't fly, you glide, pulled along by your hammer."

The Aesir warriors shot at the black ship, mercifully missing with their massive machine guns. Loki stared in surprise. Asgard had resorted to such primitive weapons? They took a sharp turn and made several twists. Jane collapsed.

"Oh, dear," Loki sighed flatly. "Is she dead?"

"Jane," Thor called. She gave a weak wave from the floor.

The attacks kept coming. Thor caught the tail end of the ship on the healer's medical room. Loki shot him a look. "Not a word," Thor growled.

A squad of three personal flyers gave chase.

"Now they're following us," Loki said.

They had much better accuracy than the mounted machine guns.

"Now they're firing at us," Loki said.

"Yes, thank you for the commentary, Loki, it's not at all distracting!" Thor shouted. They dove into a tunnel, only just barely tilting in time. A stone statue was not quite so lucky.

"Well done. You just decapitated your grandfather." He was never a very friendly man, anyway. Thor gave a nervous glance back toward the crumbling statue. "You know, this is wonderful. This is a tremendous idea. Let's steal the biggest, most obvious ship in the universe and escape in that," Loki snarled. "Flying around the city, smashing into everything in sight so everyone can see us. It's brilliant, Thor! It's truly brilliant!"

Thor shoved him hard in the chest; Loki screamed, tumbling out of an open door. Thor gave a satisfied grin. He had always wanted to push his brother out of a moving object. He collected Jane and quite literally jumped ship. Their pursuers followed the black beast, which spun out of control over the sea.

Fandral could not ease his chuckling. A personal flyer manned by the womanizer broke Loki's fall; he landed heavily on his face. "I see your time in the dungeons has made you no less graceful, Loki," he smirked.

_Shut up, pretty boy,_ Loki wanted to hiss, but instead he watched Thor, pulling himself up without the use of his tied hands. "You lied to me." He gave a nod. "I'm impressed."

"I'm glad you're pleased, now do as you promised. Take us to your secret pathway."

Loki gave a wide grin as he and Fandral exchanged places. The grin, the other men noted, seemed slightly psychotic. The flyer hugged the water, sending droplets into the fire-fed respulsors. They hissed. Another personal flyer came up behind them; Loki raised their flyer high into the air. Fandral grabbed a rope, gave a cheeky grin, muttered "For Asgard", and hopped over the side.

Loki began to feel a chuckle rising up in his throat. This was certainly not the easiest way out but it was the most fun. He had discovered this one some time ago, through the use of his endless cataloging. He found it safe to assume that it was the cave in which the Tesseract hid itself while it lived vicariously through its daughters.

"Loki," Thor called, feeling very nervous. Loki could hardly contain himself.

"If it were easy, everyone would do it."

"Are you mad?" Perhaps it was a bit late to ask that now.

"Possibly," Loki admitted.

The flyer just barely fit through the tiny gap in the rock face, metal colliding against deposits of unusual stone. In a flash of light, they were gone.

_0:23_

_21.4.14_


	14. Bye, Bye, Blackbird

The pressure alone knocked the breath from their lungs. It was not a smooth ride like travelling the Bifrost. For a brief moment, Thor believed they were all going to die, that Loki had stooped to murder-suicide. Being shoved through a hole in space the size of a needle-prick was apparently enough to make even Thor cry for death. But the fear passed with a loud pop and a crash. The personal flyer skidded through black earth.

"Ta-da," Loki sang flatly.

They had arrived in Svartalfheim. The Dark World.

The realm was eerily quiet. This feeling was not unlike their first visit to Jotunheim, when Thor was still brash and Loki was still innocent.

"We should go over the plan," Thor said.

"If it makes you feel better," Loki murmured, "don't."

They flew over the wreckage of a ten thousand year old battle. Shattered remnants of giant ships littered the ashen ground. Something like a castle blended into the scene, just as dark and jagged and broken as everything else in this wretched landscape. Thor draped his cloak over Jane's shoulders and stroked her forehead. The woman rested uneasily at the front of the flyer.

"What I could do with the power that runs through those veins," Loki sighed.

"It would consume you," Thor growled, giving him a dark look.

The raven haired prince in return gave something akin to a pout. "_She's_ holding up alright. For now."

Thor sat close to Jane. "She's strong in ways you would never even know."

Loki remembered a time he once thought the same of Siv. "Say goodbye," he urged.

"Not this day," Thor whispered.

"This day, the next, a hundred years, it's nothing." Loki stood. "It's a heartbeat. You'll never be ready. The only woman whose love you've prized will be snatched from you."

"And will that satisfy you?" Thor interrupted, glaring up at him. Was this Loki's idea of a joke, to gloat down at him as he feared for his mortal? Was this payback for a thousand years of hurt chasing his own?

"Satisfaction is not in my nature," Loki hissed.

"Surrender is not in mine," Thor challenged.

Loki took it. "The son of Odin," he started, smirking angrily.

Thor stood. "No, not just of Odin. You think you alone were loved of Mother? You had her tricks, but I had her trust!"

"Trust?" Loki spat. "Was that her last expression? Trust? When you let her _die_?"

"What help were you in your cell?" Thor scoffed, nearing.

"Who put me there? _Who put me there?_" Loki shouted.

"You know damn well! You know damn well who!" Thor pushed him down into the edge of the flyer, fists threatening to bloody up that mask. He would have struck, too, if not for remembering his vow to be a better man. If not for the fact that Loki was just as upset as he. Thor pulled away, struggling with the anger in his chest. "She would not want us to fight."

Loki's face softened as he shrugged. "Well, she wouldn't exactly be shocked."

The brothers shared an empty smile.

"I wish I could trust you," Thor admitted. He backed away and turned, going to Jane's side once more.

Loki stood. The smile faded from his lips. "Trust my rage," he whispered.

The mortal at the front of the flyer stirred. Her eyes opened. Were they always so blue? But they were unnatural; her sclera were flooded with black tar, staining her eyes. She looked like one of the dark elves.

"Jane," Thor tried.

"Malekith," she whispered, peering over the edge of the flyer. The last dark elf ship hovered on the horizon. Loki landed the personal flyer behind a small hill; the three stepped off and headed toward the edge of the slope.

Here they were, the unlikely trio. The God of Thunder, the God of Lies, the Mortal of Nothing in Particular (except a strange and supposedly destroyed liquid rock of a weapon), to face off against a handful of doll-masked creatures thought dead for ten millennia. Where had they even come from? Loki had long suspected their arrival after seeing the fire beast become the fire beast in the dungeon. Once, Odin taught them about Svartalfheim's quest to return the world to darkness, about the war, about the Kursed. The one distinct memory the raven haired prince had of his "father" and it was about war for blindness.

'_What a bland way to live. Blind._ _If only you could have slept a bit longer and waited for the Ragnarök,' _Loki thought with a wave of grim humor. He had a lot of those waves lately. It came with the incurable sickness.

"Alright. Are you ready?" Thor asked, looking down at Jane.

"I am," Loki answered snidely. The couple gave him a look. The Aesir brothers stood. "You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed."

"Yes, possibly," Thor muttered. Loki offered his shackles to him. The golden haired prince hesitated.

"You still don't trust me, _Brother_?"

"Would you?" Thor chuckled grimly, removing the shackles.

Loki smirked. "No, I wouldn't," he breathed, and shoved a knife into Thor's gut. It felt wonderful to push him off of the slope. Payback for earlier.

"Thor!" Jane screamed.

Loki jumped down the slope after his rolling body.

"No," she whimpered, trying to do the same.

It must have been very inconvenient for her to have not known the entire plan. In the back of Loki's mind, he briefly wondered if Thor refused to tell her solely because she would have slapped them both. He had no time to ponder that, now. He had to play the villain Asgard summed him up to be.

The villain that he _was_.

"You really think I cared about Frigga?" Loki hissed, "About any of you?" He kicked Thor hard in the jaw. Ah, this truly did feel wonderful. A rumble echoed around his words. "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!" Not exactly untrue.

Thor reached for Mjølnir; Loki grabbed him by the wrist and sliced his hand clean off. Thor groaned in pain. He did a terrible job of acting. At least he tried. The hammer fell with a heavy thud. Jane ran to her god, panicking. What could she have done? She was only a human. Loki eyed her with disgust, grabbed her by the waist and pulled the struggling mortal to her feet. The dark elves neared him, unsure of what to do.

"Malekith!" Loki roared. "I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift." He shoved Jane to the ground. She looked up at the elven leader in fright. "I ask only one think in return," Loki continued. "A good seat from which to watch Asgard burn!"

Malekith went to Thor. Towered over him. "Look at me," he ordered. When Thor would not look, he kicked the prince onto his back. The dark elf levitated the mortal and extracted the Aether. Finally, he had his weapon.

Jane dropped to the ground, robbed of the liquid stone. Loki smirked.

"Loki, now!" Thor shouted. In a flash of magic, Thor returned to his natural self, hand still in place. Loki ran to Jane, protected her between the ground and his chest. The golden haired prince summoned his lightning and sent it straight to the heart of the weapon. A great explosion followed; shards littered the ash. It was over.

In the dust, the shards lifted themselves into the air, reforming into one substance.

The dark elves must have known this would happen. Malekith did not look particularly distressed over the potential destruction, but he also did not gloat. In these serious moments, Loki could not help but feel the overabundance in his lack of caring for this photophobic race of cowards. There were more pressing matters on his mind than the outcome of this battle. Actually, in a way, that was a lie. But Loki felt an overabundance in lack of caring about that, too.

Malekith and the fire beast turned to leave. Their doll-masked soldiers came forward to stop the Aesir. They were weak opponents for Thor, seeming as doll-like as they looked; the fire beast threw a bomb in their general direction. Loki shoved Jane to the ground and out of the way. This was going to be his noble sacrifice, if there ever was one. He pretended to turn to run, and the bomb imploded. Loki felt himself pulled into the black hole technology.

Thor slammed into his side, pushing the raven haired prince out of the gravitational force of the bomb.

'_You,'_ Loki thought with a sigh as the Aesir pulled themselves to their feet. He would have to find another way to commit his valiant act.

Thor glided away with Mjølnir, engaging in battle with the massive fire beast. Loki was matched against four elven soldiers, all clad in the same doll-like masks. He sighed again, tossing his knife from hand to hand. His self-righteousness would not allow him to be killed by such weak things. And they _were_ weak. Loki finished them without suffering any damage. How did Malekith expect to get anything done with servants like these? Loki turned in search of Thor.

The battle was not leaning in the god's favor; the fire beast trapped the golden haired prince between the solid earth and a barrage of fists. Loki's anger bubbled hot; only he had right to do that. Granted, he never once had the strength to do so before, but if he had, he would have imagined to be something quite like that. He robbed an elven carcass and shoved its blade unceremoniously through the back of the beast's chest. The beast stumbled. The Aesir assumed it felt some sort of shock, though it seemed wholly unaffected by the sword sticking out of its chest. The beast turned, grabbed Loki by the shoulders, and stabbed him through the lungs with the blade's protrusion.

'_Oh, not like this!'_

His world went white for a moment in searing hot fire as his body understood what happened, then bitter black and cold as eternal winter consumed his insides. Loki began to feel afraid, in spite of himself. This was what he wanted, right? _'Well, it's too late to go back now!'_ his brain snarled. Even magic could not fix this hole.

"No!" Thor howled.

The beast threw Loki to the ground. That was fine; Loki would not be crushed to bits. "See you in Hel, monster," the raven haired prince hissed through chattering teeth. Everything was so cold. Had he ever felt this cold? No; this was terrifying.

The fire beast understood only too late. The black hole bomb at its hip imploded, dragging its master along with it. It roared in pain as its body folded in on itself. It was a pleasing sound to Loki's failing ears, like being submerged in the sea, to hear the angry waves crash overhead. Heavy thuds neared him. It was Thor.

"No, no, no, no!" he stuttered, pulling Loki into his arms. The raven haired prince's hands grew cold and ashen against the mighty prince's chest. "Aye, you fool, you didn't listen," Thor murmured, holding him tight.

"I know," Loki panted. Sarcastic comments would get him nowhere now. He was scared – so scared, and he was dying – he did not expect it to feel like this, to die painfully – Thor was watching, he only ever wanted to die alone. "I'm a fool, I'm a fool." The ice spread over his lungs, he could feel it. It stole away his breath, made it hurt just to try. Everything hurt.

"Stay with me, okay?"

"I'm sorry," he wheezed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." And maybe he _was_ sorry, for the cold spread exponentially fast and it was very hard to focus on telling lies. He was drowning in winter. He could never apologize enough – oh, _gods_ he was scared – it never felt like this before – asphyxiation was more desirable than this.

Thor shushed him quietly. "It's okay," he smiled, nodding through the tears in his eyes. This was a death far better for his brother than any hate crime or Ragnarök. He was valiant and brave and fought with a cause. He was a warrior. "It's alright. I will tell father what you did here today."

Loki trembled in his arms, struggling to stay alive for just a little while longer. All his life he demanded control, yet could not even control his death. How miserable. But as the ashen husk enveloped, and the more the internal winter took hold, Loki no longer felt the pain. He relaxed with a soft breath. The last bit of warmth seeped from him in a tear. "I didn't do it for him," he whispered, staring up at his brother. Yes, after all that, Thor was still his brother. He just could not get rid of that golden haired arse. Fortunately, Thor could finally be rid of _him_.

Thor paused, guilt seeping into his bones. But he waited too long to say another word, and Loki closed his emerald eyes. The mask faded and Loki became his true, simple form. That Jotun husk, grey-blue and cold, clad in a simple tunic and simple trousers.

The raven haired prince was dead.

"No!" Thor howled again, the tears streaming from his face. He sobbed over his brother's corpse. A storm raged around them, stirring up the ashes in an unforgiving whirlwind. Jane came forth and sat beside him. The golden haired prince sobbed and sobbed. His mortal could do nothing but watch. She felt the sorrow grip her heart, but Jane could not mourn for the man who wreaked havoc on her life. The storm drew closer by the minute, threatening to swallow them all like Loki's winter.

"Thor," Jane finally whispered, "Thor, we have to go."

"I cannot leave him," Thor choked out. "I cannot leave him on this ungrateful realm, this place of hatred. We must bring him back to Asgard. We must prepare a longboat."

Jane rubbed his shoulder. "We can't, Thor. There's not enough time. We have to stop Malekith." It took coaxing, but Thor finally settled to move his dead brother to the flyer, covering him with his cloak.

"I am sorry for all the times I wronged you," Thor muttered through his tears. "I am sorry you were whisked into this awful mess of prophecies and hatred. I am sorry I was not the brother you needed me to be. When you see Siv again, stay with her. Don't let her go, don't push her away. It is just like you to block out the ones that love you. And greet Mother kindly. She believed in you til her last breath. Be well, my –" Thor cupped his cold, grey cheek, laughing in spite of himself; "– my troublesome little brother, be well. I will join you someday, and we shall be a family again. We can start over. I shall see you in Valhalla. You are deserving of such a glorious place.

"Bye, bye, blackbird," he whispered, stroking Loki's dark hair. And then the storm was too much for them, and Thor unwillingly left his brother's body to be buried in ashes.

҉

It was a cruelly beautiful morning. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, spilling golden light over the snow. The clouds were exceptionally fluffy and complimented a rosy pink sky with an array of reds and purples. A white weasel bounded through the drifts. Loki stared at it curiously. It paused by his feet, sniffed, squeaked up at him. _Follow me_, it seemed to say. So Loki did. The furry white weasel led him across frozen hills and past frozen lakes and through frozen meadows and around frozen trees, all the way down to a lonesome little tent in a clearing. The breeze smelled faintly of smoke and boar meat. The air tasted delicious on Loki's tongue. The weasel had no time for Loki to stop and sniff the air. It ran tight circles around him, urging him forward. Loki knelt and crawled inside.

The tent was warm and cozy. A bed of furs padded the floor, and a circle of down-feather pillows served as a wall between it and the thick skin of the tent. Loki found himself suddenly very tired, and he gratefully crawled under the furs. The weasel scuttled over the bed and curled up next to Loki's cheek, purring quietly. Wolves howled in the distance, calling for their companions. They were lonely things, and hungry, too. They were the outcasts of other packs, the weakest links, the runts of the litter. Perhaps they would band together and tell stories of their parents while curled up in a mountain cave.

A pair of spindly arms snaked around his chest. Loki did not want to open his eyes. He was too tired. But he knew who it was, and he gave a sigh. A warm little face snuggled into his shoulder. Loki willed one eyelid open.

"Siv," he grumbled out, "stop clinging, I am trying to sleep. You're too warm."

She whined quietly and gripped his tunic. He sighed in mock annoyance, pulling the little girl on top of his chest. She grinned and nuzzled under his chin. Loki briefly wondered if this was what it was like to have a daughter. He wrapped her up in his tired arms. His chest did not hurt, though it should have. And he no longer had that mind numbing headache, and his back was not sore. But he was still so dreadfully tired. Loki could not escape his constant exhaustion, even in death.

"I'm dead," Loki realized suddenly, looking down in the general direction of Siv. He could only see the top of her head over the bridge of his nose.

She nodded against his chin. "Mmhmm."

Loki flopped his head back into the pillow. The weasel squeaked in annoyance. "Oh, finally," he breathed, relieved.

"I've only saved you once, though."

"Oh, that," Loki nodded, remembering. "'Thrice'. Why was it so important? Why would you bring me back?"

Siv sat up, giving him a look much older than what should have been possible for an eleven year old girl. "Because I am eternal and I can," she sassed.

Loki laughed. It was a strange sound, a real laugh. Not a hollow one, or a broken one, or even a sarcastic one. An honest laugh. He hadn't done that for years.

"Besides, there is no such thing as death. Only birth."

Loki snorted. "Well, if that were true, we would have a rather unfortunate overpopulation crisis."

Siv sighed and swatted at him lazily. The little girl collected the white weasel and crawled out of the tent. Loki groaned. That probably meant he had to follow her. He pulled himself out of the furs and went back out into the sunlight. She helped him out of the tent, holding on to his hand. Loki looked up. Siv was tall. Ah, no, he was short. A child again. Loki sighed. But Siv was no longer young. She stood somewhere between eight hundred and a thousand years old, by Asgardian standards. He was once one thousand and forty eight. In all his talent for learning, he never quite understood why the Aesir used a Midgardian calendar.

It was then that Loki realized the morning sunlight was not sunlight anymore. They stood alone in the vastness of space before one single star. It was not hot, though it swirled in a fury so bright, Loki had to shield his eyes. The tumult of light dissipated to reveal a much smaller, much more important rock.

A little blue cube.

"This makes twice," Siv whispered.

Loki looked up at her.

She winked playfully at him.

҉

Loki awoke, gasping and sputtering. His lungs burned. His body ached. His husk crackled and fell away, leaving great chunks of his ashen skin in pieces on the floor. Floor? He was flat on his back in what appeared to be the personal flyer, a cloak draped over his face. A heavy layer of black ash coated it. Best to leave it there. Loki gripped his chest, unsure of what to make of the situation. His tunic was soaked in dried blood, but he bore no gaping wound. Only a pearly white scar told the tale of the battle. Why was he alive? And then the memory, the dream, the hallucination of the cruelly beautiful morning flashed in his mind, and Loki gave an angry hiss.

"Damn," he snarled. "Damn. _Damn it all!_"

But above himself, he heard the distant clamor of soldiers. They must have been new recruits, and young, because they cursed and carried on and made quite a bit of noise. Loki recognized one of them to be the third guard from the dungeon. Ah, yes. That wretch.

"There are elf bodies all over the place," one soldier grunted, tripping over them.

"Try to find Malekith or the weapon," another called out.

Only three so far. The rest seemed to be too far away.

"What is this?" dungeon guard number three murmured, tugging at the cloak over Loki's face. The raven haired prince stuck his knife in the poor man's throat and traded their faces. He could keep a skin of magic on a dead body quite easily.

"I've found something!" the guard (Loki) shouted, once maneuvering the dead body into place. "I think this is the body of that devil, Laufeyson! He's dead!"

Just like that, Loki infiltrated.

_11:45_

_21.4.14_


	15. His Sacrifice

Odin stood before the shattered throne, lost in years of thought. He had given his life to this seat, as all good kings were expected to do, at the expense of his familial ties. Was this how the old rulers wiled away their last breaths, standing before their legacy and wondering where they went wrong? He should not have taken Loki as a baby. Every child born after the crown prince was expected to live their lives for diplomatic reasons; Loki somehow knew he was not meant for anything else but the crown. No matter Odin's attempts, Loki would not sit by to while away as the time came for Thor to ascend. It was centuries too late, now. If he could have gone back and done it all again, he would have left the child to starve in the temple. Baldur would still be alive, then, and maybe Frigga.

A guard approached the All-Father as quietly as he could. "Forgive me, my liege," he spoke. "I have returned from the Dark World with news."

Odin turned slightly. He did not like the tone in this soldier's voice. "Thor?" he asked, suspecting the worst.

The guard shook his head. "There was no sign of Thor, or the weapon, but. . ." He dared step closer to the throne.

"What?" Odin demanded, face gaunt and tired.

"We found a body." The guard lowered his head.

Odin's good eye drifted away from the servant. "Loki," he whispered.

The guard looked up through his eyelashes, an apologetic smile on his face.

The All-Father bid his servant leave. As soon as the guard was gone, Odin summoned Heimdall. The gatekeeper and overseer was quickly at his king's side. He helped the old man to his chambers.

"Heimdall, I expect you to take the throne until Thor returns."

"My King, why not Tyr? My treason does not favor the title." Heimdall asked.

"Nevermind your crime," Odin sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Tyr is a war general, and, while it may be necessary. . ." He shook his head. "Thor and Tyr do not agree on costs."

Heimdall might have smiled. "You have faith in your son that he will stop Malekith and recover the Aether."

"It is not I who demands faith, but my Queen." Odin then summoned the council of elders, who presented Gungnir to Heimdall just as they once did to Loki. After the brief bestowing was over, Odin rested against his pillows and fell into the Odinsleep.

While Thor battled Malekith across the Convergence, Heimdall sent a transmission to the leaders of living realms. (Midgard was graciously overlooked, the battle being fought mostly on their ground.)

"Malekith, the ruler of the Dark World, has returned. While we are doing our best to stop him, the Convergence transports the battle without warning. Many of you have already seen such actions. Malekith and Thor Odinson could be battling at your feet at any moment. The dark elf intends to destroy all realms. Request that your citizens take immediate shelter. Gather your soldiers and prepare for battle."

He then did his best to protect the Asgardian people. The civilians were ushered out of the city, where they laid in wait inside the mountains. The dwarves of old Nornheim constructed these caverns ten thousand years ago, should Asgard ever be in peril again. Heimdall was thankful for the old Norns' kindness. Once they were safe, Heimdall gathered what soldiers were left into the great hall, where they sat in wait. With the Tesseract, he rebuilt the throne, the pillars, and several walls. It would take time to go around the city to rebuild other structures, but for now, he could at least do this much.

And then a portal opened up over the sea.

Black tendrils extended from the sky, searching for anything to destroy. They fell heavily upon the newly built observatory, Heimdall's home, and ate up its years of life. In moments, the building was black and brittle and crumbling away. _'Again,'_ he thought with dismay. The temporary king retreated to the weapons vault, where he stowed away the Tesseract. One lonesome guard watched him cautiously, unsure of what to make of Heimdall's presence.

"Only the king is allowed down here," he said, moving to block Heimdall's approach.

"I am the king," Heimdall responded, "and to your ears, it does not come as a shock. Am I incorrect, Loki?"

The guard gave a grin and revealed his face, though staying in costume. "Alas," he sighed, "I cannot stay hidden for long."

Heimdall brushed past him and returned the Tesseract to its place. Loki came beside him, stood quietly by the rock. It pulsed slowly. "Your brother thinks you dead," said Heimdall.

"I know," Loki answered. "I brought back my own body. I think, once Thor is through rampaging across the worlds, I'll take the Tesseract and bid myself leave."

Heimdall turned to face him. "I cannot allow you to take the cube. I will, however, allow your departure."

Loki narrowed his eyes. "Heimdall, even with all your great wisdom and powerful sight, you cannot fathom the information I have. I strongly recommend giving me the cube. I could save trillions of lives."

"'Could'," Heimdall repeated voice low. "Yet the possibility of that outcome is a fraction of a percent. I cannot risk you losing this weapon to an enemy."

Loki gritted his teeth. "Are those not the same words Odin spoke to Thor? I understand that you intend to rule as well as you can for the next few hours, but know this: my death cannot and will not stop the Ragnarök. Thanos travels in the shadows of all realms, observing the devastation. He has taken control of the prophecy and will do everything in his power to destroy us all. You know he can, Heimdall. He seeks the infinity stones, and with each passing moment, he grows stronger. I can take the Tesseract and disappear. It will be kept safe in my possession. Thanos will not find me. The time I spent in his 'care' taught me everything about him. He is blinded by his love for Death. He will kill everything for her, including himself when the time comes. We just have to hold off until then. Until Death takes him. After that, you can take the cube back and I will stay gone. And everything will be like it's supposed to."

Heimdall was quiet.

"Do you consent?" Loki whispered curtly.

"Malekith is defeated. Your brother calls to summon his allies."

Loki scowled. "Did you listen to me at all?"

"Cloak yourself in Odin's garb. When he returns, Thor will request a council with the King in response to his actions. No one knows Odin is retired yet." And Heimdall left the vault to return to the Bifrost, decaying though not unusable.

Several hours later, Thor finally came to Asgard. Loki cursed under his breath, hobbling his way to the throne under Odin's disguise. The armor was heavy, the eye patch, a nuisance. Even magic had weight. He sat, a borrowed Gungnir held tight in his fist. Heimdall brought Thor to the palace, then stepped away to the shadows of the court.

Thor knelt before the throne, bowing his head. He was quietly surprised to see the hall rebuilt so quickly. "Father, I have come to face the charges for the treason I have committed against you."

It was silent for a tense moment as Odin rubbed his chin. "What news have you of Malekith and the Dark World?"

Thor swallowed. "Malekith is dead. Svartalfheim is silent and Midgard is safe, as are the rest of the realms."

"And the weapon?"

"Jane is. . ." Thor shook his head. "The Aether is contained. Volstaag and Lady Sif have locked it away. They travel to Vanaheim now, seeking out the Collector under my orders. He is an ally we can trust."

The All-Father stood. "You once said there would never be a wiser king than me. You were wrong. The alignment has brought all the realms together. Every one of them saw you offer your life to save them. What can Asgard offer its new king in return?"

"My life," Thor responded after a moment's hesitation. He stood as well. "Father, I cannot be king of Asgard. I will protect Asgard and all the nine realms with my last and every breath, but I cannot do so from that chair. Loki, for all his grave imbalance, understood rule as I know I never will. The brutality, the sacrifice. It changes you. I'd rather be a good man than a great king."

"Is this my son I hear, or the woman he loves?" Odin questioned.

"When you speak, do I never hear Mother's voice?" the golden haired prince chuckled.

Odin sighed, remembering the late Queen.

"This is not for Jane, Father," Thor assured. "She does not know what I came here to say." Odin sat heavily upon the throne. "Now, forbid me to see her, or say she can rule at my side, it changes nothing."

"One son who wanted the throne too much," Odin interrupted, "another who will not take it. Is this my legacy?"

"Loki died with honor," Thor said proudly. "I shall try to live the same. Is that not legacy enough?" Odin nodded, eyes downcast. Thor offered Mjølnir to his father.

Odin held up his hand in refusal. "It belongs to you, if you are worthy of it," he smiled.

"I shall try to be," Thor promised.

Odin sobered. "I cannot give you my blessing, nor can I wish you good fortune."

Thor nodded. "I know." He bowed and turned to leave.

"If I were proud of the man my son had become," Odin continued, "even that I could not say. It would speak only from my heart. Go, my son."

"Thank you, Father," Thor smiled, and left the hall.

"No," Odin whispered after a while. The magic faded away, revealing a smirking Loki. "Thank _you_."

Heimdall came forth from the shadows. "Is it wise to reveal yourself, when anyone could be watching?"

"Where has he gone?" Loki asked, returning Gungnir. "He cannot travel back to Midgard without you. His friends are all off-realm. He has no reason to stay here, yet he wanders off like lumbering livestock."

Heimdall might have smiled. "I told him they brought back your body. He has gone to offer help in preparation for carving your longboat." Loki winced. "You are welcome to stay the night and watch the procession. You did not get to participate in Frigga's sendoff."

"Thor will expect his father to speak for me. I cannot speak for myself. I will take the cube and go. Tell him after I leave that Odin has since fallen into the Odinsleep with the relief that Malekith's short reign of terror is over." Loki ran a hand though his matted hair.

Heimdall heaved a long sigh. "Relax and bathe. Gather your necessities. I must tend to the people, and then I will fetch you the cube."

"I can obtain it without you," Loki suggested.

Heimdall denied him quickly.

҉

Loki bathed in the mineral pool in silence. It felt nice to bathe again, after the last four nights. Even while in the dungeons he was allowed to bathe, but not like this. The only light over the bath was weak, from the stars outside the great window. In the glow, he counted his scars.

The oldest, the bilgesnipe bite, still took up most of his left side. The jagged marks radiated from the ball of his shoulder, around his collarbone and neck. A gouge wound on the back of his right calf was Sif's mark, a training 'accident'. No doubt payback for her hair. Fresher scars acquired from the Chitauri torture ran from his jugular down to the bottom of his ribs. Pockmarks littered his torso from the flogging, front and back. On his lips, razor thin lines from the muzzle. Two lines, identical in length and width, hovered over his heart. One from the scepter. One from the sword.

He ducked under the water, scrubbing at the white scars on his chest. They would never wash off, no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps, with enough magic, he could heal them away. He came up for air. His skin glowed just as white as the mineral water. He saw only a shadow of himself in his reflection. His hair, his eyes, his mouth. In the darkness of the room, he looked like a ghost, a living corpse. And he was.

He removed himself from the bath, dried off, dressed, cloaked himself in magic. Invisibility was a child's trick to him now, though he did remember a time when he boasted it proudly. He attended the funeral ceremony in time to see the lighting of the pyres. One longboat led the rest, supposedly Loki's body. His upper lip curled in disgust; that atrocious guard had not earned such an honor. In only four days since Frigga's funeral, Asgard saw another fleet of ships fall away into nothingness to be delivered to the stars. The citizens sent up lantern orbs, white-blue balls of cool fire, each to symbolize a family that mourned a death.

When Loki was quite through with observing, he made his way down several streets. A young child followed him, hidden in a red cape. When Loki walked, she walked. When Loki stopped, she stopped. It unnerved him. The girl pulled back her hood and stared into the nothingness that was his soul. "Will you stop the war?" she asked. Loki saw that her eyes were clouded. She was blind. "Will you stop the war?" she asked again. "Our tribe has come to Odin with visions before. My clan is dying to help you hold off the Ragnarök. Will you stop the war?"

"Are you one of _hers_?" Loki hissed, still hidden under his own spell. It would not have mattered, if the girl was truly blind. It was not so difficult to conjure up a trick like that.

The girl shook her head. "She awaits you. Look to her for help. She will summon Lady Death when the time is right. Be careful, Prince. Thanos searches for you. He yearns for you. He attempts to watch through our eyes."

"Possession?" he asked cautiously. His skin prickled to realize the girl had likely blinded herself.

The girl nodded. "I am one of the last. Stop the war. Save us." She collapsed.

Loki did not have to near the child to know she was dead.

An hour later, Loki and Heimdall met before Odin's bed. The temporary king removed a parcel from under his arm. The cube was swathed in rags to hide the glow. "Convince me before the All-Father to give you the cube," he murmured.

Loki clenched his fists, glaring down at Odin.

"I intend to stop the fear that grips you all. The Ragnarök is in motion. Thanos is biding his time, searching for more power. He will destroy us in one bloody war for the sake of his beloved Death. I will take the cube and run, stay in hiding for the rest of eternity so long as Thanos is still alive. Of all the weapons in the universe, he seeks the Tesseract above all. That was his original plan two years ago. I doubt much has changed. When he threatens murder in exchange for my whereabouts, because he will, I will reveal myself long enough for him to try to track me. I will prove to you once and for all that I am worthy of a throne, and you cannot stop me from receiving it. I am meant to be a king. I will do my duty, bloody and inglorious as it may be."

He looked up, a wry smile curling his lips. "Was that enough to convince you?"

Heimdall awarded him the cube. Loki bid farewell and disappeared, using the Tesseract as his portal. The temporary king did his best to keep watch of the raven haired prince, but it would not take long to find that his actions were shrouded. Why should he be different in this secrecy?

Thor spent the next morning in his brother's bed chambers. The place had been left untouched since Loki's fall from the Bifrost. No maids came to clean as per Thor's request. Nothing was out of place, except some assorted books that Frigga had taken to the dungeons for Loki's pleasure. There was something different about this room after Loki's death. Uninhabited before, abandoned now. Would they seal it off like a tomb, or clear it out and rid the palace of Loki's memory? The golden haired prince could not stay for more than a few minutes. The pain was unbearable.

He removed himself from Loki's chambers and sought out his father. He went to the old king's side and sat for a few hours, lost in thought. Odin had given him permission to stay on Midgard. From what Heimdall made it seem last night, the king collapsed moments later, leaving Heimdall in charge during Thor's absence. The golden haired prince sighed, patted his father's hand, and stood.

"Leaving so soon?" asked the gatekeeper and overseer. How long had he been standing by the door? "Why not partake in the feast?"

Thor shook his head. "A feast to boast Malekith's death without either of my brothers, my mother, or my father? I think not."

Heimdall nodded. "Your mortal waits for you."

Thor looked down at Odin briefly. "I do not think it is wise to speak of her in his presence."

The overseer might have smiled. "He does not hate her as much as you think."

They went to the brittle observatory, where they made their final preparations.

"If anything happens that requires my immediate presence, let me know. I will be of aid, as I promised to the All-Father."

"I will do my best. However, when your father awakens, you will be required to come to Asgard," Heimdall noted.

Thor nodded. The gatekeeper and overseer powered up the Bifrost, and then Thor was gone.

The golden haired prince arrived on the balcony of Jane's new living quarters. Thunder crackled in an otherwise clear sky, and through the window, she saw a great beam of light. Jane practically jumped from the table to greet him. She never smiled brighter than in that moment. As soon as the Bifrost was shut, they drew close and shared a deep kiss.

"Aw!" Darcy cooed from the window. Selvig and Ian clapped. The couple parted, Jane blushing, Thor grinning in amusement.

They invited him inside, offering him coffee. Thor gratefully accepted.

"So did everything go alright with your dad? I mean, he's not mad or anything, right? If you're here?" Jane stumbled out, falling over her words.

Thor nodded. "He was proud of me, despite disobeying. He has given me leave for a while to stay Midgard. He fell into the Odinsleep almost immediately after, giving the throne to Heimdall to take care of while I am here."

"What's the 'Odinsleep'?" Ian asked, sitting across from them.

"My father uses magic to protect many things, and it puts a great strain on him," Thor explained. "On occasion, and especially after stressful times, he falls into what we call the Odinsleep, a period of deep rest taken to replenish his strength. It can last anywhere from a few days to a few years."

Darcy whistled, coming to sit beside Ian. "Sleeping Beauty much?" she chuckled.

Thor frowned in thought, unsure of her comment.

Selvig grinned. "How long are you in town for? I wouldn't mind taking another drink with you, down at the bars."

Thor returned the smile, taking Jane's hand. "I will be here for as long as I can."

_22:18_

_25.4.14_


	16. Run, Boy, Run

The days passed strangely. The flat was quite crowded with the five of them. Luckily Jane's mother, owner of inhabited flat, was away on vacation somewhere in China. Thor and Jane shared the bedroom, Darcy and Ian (who abandoned his dorm) made a tent on the kitchen floor, and Selvig took the couch. Mornings were exciting and fun, afternoons were busy as the mortals worked, and during the evening, they all went out to explore.

"I don't live here," Jane explained as she and Thor walked down the streets of London together. "My mom moved to England when I started college. She's an ecologist. She studies how the world interacts with itself. Mostly animals, but, she says it's not hard to reflect on people. We kind of rented out her space while she's gone. Erik was studying the gravitational anomalies for a couple of months before Darcy and I came here – the Convergence. When it was over, I got a call from the University of Greenwich asking if I would like to teach a few seminars. Sort of a tribute to my mom – she works there. I figured, 'why not'."

Thor nodded. "I see," he hummed. "You have all been very resourceful, it seems."

Jane chuckled, mostly because he had taken her hand in his.

The clothes they bought for him fit very well. Tonight he wore a white shirt, faded jeans, boots, and a leather jacket. He looked like another regular human, not a prince, nor a warrior, nor a god. But he didn't mind, and neither did she. They were happy.

Thor leaned in to kiss her when Darcy shrieked. For a moment, their hearts all stopped.

"That freakin' bird just came out of nowhere!" she gasped, rubbing remnants of bird feathers out of her hair.

"It's to be expected," Selvig assured. "The Convergence has passed, but small portals might open up here and there. Nothing major."

"_That's_ 'nothing major'?" Ian asked, pointing down the end of the alleyway.

An ice beast stood in the shadows, panting. Its eyes gleamed white in the darkness. Thor dropped Jane's hand. "Everyone get back," he ordered, protecting them behind a meaty arm. Mjølnir whizzed through the sky, reaching his palm in a matter of seconds. But the ice beast just panted, watching them all. It was smaller than any Thor had ever seen, though size did not inhibit the danger. The ice beast lunged, fell through the cobblestone, and disappeared.

The group relaxed slowly.

"Is it gone for good?" Ian asked. "Because I'm pretty sure that thing ate a couple of those cyber-elves and I'd rather not be eaten, too."

"'Cyber-elves'?" Darcy asked.

"You know, like the cyber-men?" said Ian. "Doctor Who?"

Darcy shook her head.

Ian demanded a show marathon.

The group, after finishing a comfortingly greasy dinner, headed back to the borrowed flat. They spent the night huddled around the TV to begin Ian's program.

They watched sparingly for two weeks until classes let out for Christmas holiday. Thor continued to grimace at the terrible graphics. The mortals understood.

"It's only the tenth," Ian said, staring at the calendar. "We finished season one in two weeks, one episode a night, but if we're going to make it to the Christmas special, we need to finish seven seasons in fifteen days. That's a hundred and four episodes, including specials. Each episode is forty five minutes, that's roughly 4,700 minutes of TV. 4,700 minutes into fifteen days, that's roughly 300 minutes a day, that's roughly five hours, that's roughly seven episodes a day. I think that's doable on a break. I don't have class, Jane doesn't have seminars, Darcy doesn't have money, Selvig doesn't have a car, and Thor is Thor. We might even – if we're lucky – get through this sooner."

The others looked around.

Thor couldn't help but laugh.

"What, don't you have TV shows up there in space?" Darcy asked. "This is light watching. I forced Jane to watch Smallville with me, _and_ Supernatural."

"We have things like television shows in Asgard, yes, but my father forbade them as my brothers and I grew up. By the time we were old enough to want to think otherwise, we were much too busy. I can remember several times when my friends would much rather have sprawled out under a tree with a holo-card and watched endless hours of performances."

"'Holo-card'," Selvig murmured, folding his arms in wonder.

Thor paused. "It's . . . like one of your cellphones. It's flat and clear, about the size of one's palm. It expands depending on how much room you have at your disposal. You can do many things with it, but mainly it's recreational. If there is little room, the actors float around the area of the card, but most people like to lay theirs on a flat surface and expand the projection until the scenes are played out around them. The light elves are particularly fond of acting, and most of the dramas Fandral used to watch were from Alfheim."

"I need a holo-card," Darcy said immediately.

Thor chuckled. "Next time I go to Asgard, I shall try to bring you all one."

They made a quick dinner of four boxes of macaroni, then sat down to get started on their next five hours. By the end of the first night of Christmas holiday, they finally understood Ian's cyber-men joke.

Ten nights of heavy watching. Ten nights of laughs, of tears, of passing around the bottles of beer and boxes of pizza and bowls of macaroni. Ten nights for Selvig to feel young, and ten nights for Ian to be proud of his culture, and ten nights for Darcy to fall in love, and ten nights for Jane to _be_ in love, and ten nights for Thor to feel human.

Ten nights for Thor to feel human.

And then the dreams settled in.

He blamed it on his grief and the growing fondness for this television drama. When he closed his eyes, he saw Loki travelling around each realm, searching for something. He saw the Doctor chasing him through the worlds, across time, trying to stop the raven haired prince from reaching the Tesseract. He saw a war between the two, each misunderstanding the other, raining fire and bloodshed upon them both. In the middle of the night, he would wake and go to the balcony for air.

There, he wondered what this fictional Doctor would make of the deceased Loki. Thor wondered what the Doctor would make of _himself_, a god falling in love with a human. But the Doctor had his own human. Rose. Despite leaving behind a human version of himself, Thor held faith that the man in the box would return for her. Was the Doctor never jealous of that self? The one that got to live with Rose, and die with Rose? How did the Doctor lose all of his companions and still manage to stay sane? Loki chased one human across a millennia and in the end it drove him mad.

Ah, but they were all just dreams, silly thoughts.

Loki was certainly dead and the Doctor was certainly not a man who existed. Thor did his best to keep from thinking too much about it. About all the phrases and expressions and emotions in this television show that reminded him of his brother.

Five nights of dreams passed with five days of pleasant watching. They made it to the Christmas special just on time, and it was wonderful.

Thor stayed for five months and counting, and that was wonderful, too.

҉

Loki hid away on Jotunheim with the last ice beast. They were the final creatures of their kind, it seemed, destined to live out their life on this lonely rock. Upon some exploring, Loki found something strange about the planet. Its orbit had long ceased, giving one side of Jotunheim sun and mild weather, while the other side was covered in ice and darkness. The raven haired prince did not deny he was always curious how they sustained themselves. Here, in the light, they harvested food at the expense of their lives. The weather was not unpleasant, but to toil in bright sunny fields must have been torture. Loki chuckled to himself.

_'Are you ever going to ask?'_

His smile faded. "I have asked you to refrain from speaking, and that should be enough," he growled. The cube stayed tucked away in a leather satchel under his cloak. Many times, he thought to stow it in one of his hidden pockets of space. But the danger was too great, and to leave it unattended would surely be his plan's downfall.

_'Ask me why I am still here. You know what happened. You know it should not be possible. Ask me why I live as Siv.'_

The raven haired prince gave a dark laugh, shifting the satchel on his shoulder. "And why is it so imperative that I ask? I don't care to know. It is your own business. I am just an insignificant soul that 'Mother' cares nothing for. She favors only you, the firstborn."

Siv grew angry. A sharp headache stabbed through Loki's mind as she spoke. _'How dare you accuse the Tesseract of favoritism? She loves all souls equally! Loki, you are blinded! What have I done to make you hate everything so passionately, that you can no longer ask what makes you curious?'_

"And you say _I_ am blinded. Look at you," Loki hissed, holding his head. "I have no reason to know why you are still in existence. The Tesseract, the Mother – she obviously cares about you more than the rest of the souls if she will let you continue on with your memories. But because of this, you are no longer the same, are you? You suffer with emotions. They are difficult, are they not? They hurt. And when you absorbed the shard, it poisoned you, it poisoned the cube. You are becoming human in consciousness. You are not a perfect, clean soul. You are fouled. Defiled. Infected. Your continued existence is why I hate everything as 'passionately' as you say. There comes a day when even the most curious man must refrain from satisfying his own knowledge. Step off and shut up."

But she did not remain quiet.

_'For a millennia, I sought to help you!'_

"For a millennia, you ruined my chance at a normal life!"

_'Your life would never have been normal, even without my involvement. You still would be exactly where you are today, without me.'_

"Oh, I doubt that. I doubt that very much."

_'You doubt because you wish me dead.'_

"You are correct, my diseased little pet. I wish I had never met you. I wish you had never chased me down. I wish you would have just stayed away."

_'Loki, I did it because I loved you!'_

"And look what that love has done to us now!"

They were quiet for many days. Loki brooded atop the Jotun throne, and Siv, inside and around the Tesseract. Her Mother greeted her silently, an invisible emotion in Siv's consciousness. The soul came to the heart of the cube in search of knowledge and reason for Loki's behavior.

_ 'He refuses to listen. What can I do to prove to him that I am here to save him? That I want him to live? That he is wrong to hate me as much as he does?'_

_ 'The accusations against each other of blindness are not incorrect. He refuses to see that you want to live; you refuse to see that he wants to die. He is young, and hurt, and he has only you to blame.'_

_ 'But I am not at fault!'_

_ 'But you are. To him, you are.'_

Siv was silent.

_ 'You have good intentions, and the thousand years you have spent carrying human memories inside of you have molded you into a strictly human soul. For eons, you favored the fauna of Midgard. They were simple, and full of love. When you took a human vessel for the first time, I was surprised, and kept a close watch. When you met Loki's Jotun vessel, I knew you were one of the souls that would chase its kindred for the rest of time. So far, I have not been incorrect.'_

_ 'How can I tell him why? How can I tell him what you have done for me?'_

_ 'You are certainly not the first soul I have allowed a partial cleanse, but know what it does to a vessel. You are carrying two lives' worth of memories, and to a human, that is more than overwhelming. Humans are powerful in some aspects, but weak in most. If you choose to continue to live on, beware that in the end you may harm yourself, as well as harm him further. If your vessel dies again, he will never forgive you. Even the soul inside of him will reject you.'_

_ 'But how can I tell him _why_? He won't listen to me.'_

_ 'Sometimes, it is best to stay silent. He will let you know when he is ready. You are too eager to rejoin him; you have forgotten what you admire most.'_

_ 'I am fated to live in a human vessel for the rest of time, but what about Loki? What other forms has he taken?'_

_ 'He is a young soul, only having three previous vessels. First, he was a birch tree, then a light elf, then a human, and now what he currently is.'_

_ 'So he does not favor the human form, but he has been there once. . .'_

_ 'Three cycles are not long enough to decide on a particular vessel preference. When you were an animal for the final time, he was kind to your vessel. I do not doubt that is why you suddenly chose to live as a human.'_

_ 'He was?'_

_ 'Yes. You were a weasel, wounded from a hawk. Loki's human vessel saved yours and bandaged it. You stayed by his side for many years, until you both perished of old age.'_

_ 'So I was destined to chase him from that moment, then? Out of kindness?'_

_ 'It seems the child's memories have affected even your foremost state of being. You are the oldest soul and yet even you find yourself believing in destiny and fate. It does not exist. You live and die based on choices made by everyone else. Patterns arise and become a calculation for what other souls possessing similar qualities will do. You are not destined to chase him for eternity, 'Siv'. It is your choice. Do with this what you will.'_

Siv left the heart of the Tesseract to pace in an astral form.

Loki could see her out of the corner of his eye, though he rather wished he couldn't. She made no sound, though, out of her frustration or respect for his wishes. He made no attempt to communicate. The ice beast laid at the foot of his throne, panting heavily. It desired to hunt, to feast on living flesh, but the only thing left alive was Loki and itself. Neither were promising options.

The night the ice beast decided it would feast on its king, the Chitauri came to Jotunheim in search of the cube. Loki vanished without so much as an exhale. The ice beast had a pleasant final feast before they killed it.

The raven haired prince hid away on Niflheim, the dead realm, the first realm. Siv was not so pleased to be there, and made a few quiet murmurs of protest. She was ignored. Loki explored for a bit, but found he could not stay for long. There was nothing here to sustain him. So he left for Muspelheim, shifting into the guise of a fire demon for the sheer pleasure of spying. The Chitauri found him within two months, and this time, Loki did not escape so quickly.

҉

"The failed prince runs from the force he once commanded," the Other snickered. "He knows you desire the power he hides within himself. We will capture him. We will torture him. He will beg for death within an hour. We will not let him free so easily."

"He can hide better than this," Thanos mused. He sat upon his throne in silence for a few tense moments, stroking a strange metal gauntlet on his opposite hand. "He intends to lead us away from something. The Tesseract he holds is real, and there is nothing on any realm that he cares for. This desire to protect the other realms is uncharacteristic of him. Is it not amusing that the Midgardians are so close to destroying themselves?" Thanos smiled, turning his attention to a far corner of the cosmos. "He knows I seek death for Death, and yet he tries to stop me. What a valiant little maggot he is. Unfortunately, he will not succeed. My Lady will receive her gifts in full."

"Shall we bring him to you or play chase a while longer?"

"Let him go. Increase the number of Chitauri looking for him – send a Leviathan out on the hunt. It makes the game more fun."

"Yes, my master." The Other bowed and left.

Thanos gave a malicious grin. "Run, boy, run. The immune system of the universe is coming to collect you."

҉

Over the period of five months, several things happened.

Darcy and Ian were engaged to be wed.

Selvig received several mysterious phone calls which finally lured him back to America on a strange and hidden task.

Jane received an award for her work on the Nine Realms theory and the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory.

Thor's dreams about Loki's realm-travelling increased.

One night, he finally explained to Jane why he could not sleep. "I see him fighting the Chitauri, protecting the Tesseract, hiding in the smallest, most insignificant planets of all nine realms. Where he finds refuge, he does nothing but sit in wait. When they find him, he runs again. If he is not fast enough, they torture him. I cannot do anything to stop them. I know they are just dreams but it feels like – it feels like Loki is alive, and no matter what I do, I cannot protect him. I cannot help him. Because I am here, and not there. I'm not even sure where 'there' is, I see only glimpses. But he is dead, Jane. My brothers are dead. My mother is dead. Even the Chitauri are dead. We killed them all in the Battle for Earth."

And then, quietly, "The only family I have left is my father."

"You have me," Jane murmured, reaching to stroke his hair. "You have me, and Darcy, and Ian, and Erik."

Thor gave a somber nod. "You are right," he whispered apologetically. "I should not overlook what I have here."

Jane's cellphone rang suddenly, blasting a distasteful chanting. She frowned at it, muttering under her breath before answering. "Erik, it's the middle of the night."

"You're awake, aren't you?" he responded, grunting.

Jane heard shouting in the background. "Why're you calling me? Where are you?"

"New Mexico – Roswell is S.H.I.E.L.D., apparently. They set up a testing facility, that's where I've been. You need to get back to America _now_. They've been trying to work on your Nine Realms theory and the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory for a few months, but they haven't got it down. Jane, they're going to open a portal without your expertise – even I can't sort this out, and I opened a portal under the influence of a god."

"Are you kidding me?" Jane nearly shouted, exasperated.

"Jane, what's wrong?" Thor asked. He was unable to hear Selvig through the phone.

"Please, Jane, come to New Mexico. They'll let you in, I can give you clearance." And with that, Selvig hung up.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Jane shrieked, standing and ripping her suitcase from the closet, stuffing it with clothes still on their hangers.

"What's going on?" Darcy asked, bursting into the room, eyes covered with her hand.

"What are you doing, Darcy?" Thor asked.

Darcy peeked between her fingers, finding them safe to view.

"Erik just called. Stupid S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to ride off my work and open a portal _without_ _me_ – I can't believe this!" She finished packing and sought decent clothes. "I'm going to New Mexico to stop them, it's too dangerous."

"As am I," Thor insisted.

"I want to go, too," Darcy grinned, pulling her own suitcase out of Jane's closet.

"Where are we going?" Ian said from the hallway, yawning. The shouting had woken him up.

"Area 51, Erik said. I can't believe this," Jane repeated angrily.

Ian straightened up immediately. "Area 51, the supposed alien collection base? I've always wanted to go there. Let me get my suitcase!" He searched for his car keys to collect his belongings from his abandoned campus dorm.

"Nerd," Darcy lovingly mocked as Ian darted out the door.

They bought tickets and boarded the first flight out to Santa Fe, dressed haphazardly in something other than sleepwear. Jane muttered under her breath the entire flight. Her only comfort was in Thor's insistence of holding her hand. Darcy and Ian chattered behind them about sci-fi media they enjoyed, until finally getting a few more hours' rest on each other's shoulders.

They arrived in New Mexico in the first hour of light, rented a car and drove silently to Roswell. They were stopped by military vehicles, removed from the rented car, then escorted to a base after a few minutes of convincing and finally a phone call to Erik (who thankfully thought to keep his phone on his person).

At first, there were four armored vehicles. Two in front, and two behind. Then four became three, as one parted to drive off into the east horizon. Then three became two, as the second drove ahead to meet the south horizon. Then two became one, as the third stopped behind them altogether. They finally arrived a small distance away from a building that looked like an airplane hangar. The four piled out of the military vehicle, cautiously easing up to the facility.

"Stay here," ordered an officer in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, and the armored vehicle's other five passengers entered the hangar without them.

It was eerily quiet for a few tense moments.

"Get down!" Thor shouted suddenly, grabbing the armored vehicle and using it as a shield around his mortal companions.

The facility exploded.

"What the hell was that?" Darcy screamed, clinging to her fiancé.

"Oh, God," Jane breathed, stumbling out from behind the vehicle.

The hangar was completely destroyed. Nothing but a skeleton of the building remained. Metal panels littered the ground, as did other unidentifiable pieces of equipment. They didn't want to guess what else. Everyone was accounted for, with no one injured. Thor breathed a sigh of relief. Behind them, an old clunker of a van pulled up, filling the superheated air with noxious black diesel clouds. Erik Selvig hung halfway out of the driver's side window.

"Oh, God, I thought I wouldn't make it in time," he breathed. "Is everyone okay?"

Thor stood, tossing aside the ruined shield. "Erik, what's happened?"

"Come on, hurry up!" Selvig urged, beckoning them toward the van. "We have to get out of here! Get in the back! I'll explain on the way!"

The van slowed just enough for them to tumble into the back of the dying vehicle. A young woman was already inside, wedged in the corner with a small mass of equipment, a laptop, a coffee mug that had seen better days, and a hellish scowl on her face.

"Meet my intern," Selvig shouted above the roar of a dangerously rattling engine.

"You have an intern?" Jane said incredulously.

The intern ignored all greetings. "Leave me alone, I'm busy," she growled.

23:11

29.4.14


	17. Destroying Ourselves

**SPOILER ALERT**

**This chapter contains altered information of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.**

**If you have not seen the film, I strongly recommend not reading this chapter until you have.**

**(By the way, it's a fabulous movie.)**

* * *

"Who is she?" Jane asked, climbing over the back of the seat to join Selvig at the front of the van. "What's going on?"

"Teagan Hill," Selvig said quickly. "They tried to open up a portal and it collapsed on itself like I knew it would. They wouldn't listen to me, Jane, so I got out as quick as I could. But I had to come back to find you, I couldn't leave you at that hangar. They used the formula you tried before Greenwich – The world is going to hell and they're trying to rip open a hole in space!"

"But Erik," Jane murmured, throat tightening, "people _died_ in that hangar. My work killed people."

"It wasn't you," he answered grimly, keeping his eyes on the dirt path in front of him. "It wasn't you, Jane, it was me. I'm trying not to think about it."

"Teagan Hill," Thor murmured, looking at the young woman. "I remember you from the helicarrier. How is Phil?"

"Don't know, don't care," she replied, glaring at him over her laptop.

Thor was surprised, looking between her and the back of Selvig's head. "Was it not you who brought him back to life after the incident was over?"

"I was," she growled. "The doctors patched him up, I got him back in his body, and then I left. I'm not working for S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, especially after the crap they've pulled."

The van veered left, forcing everyone to cling to what they could to steady themselves.

"Sorry!" shouted Selvig. "They're coming up on my tail!" He swerved to avoid the bullets he couldn't see, then slammed on the breaks. "Everyone out, and grab what you can!"

The six of them asked no questions and piled out immediately, arms full of cords and monitors and whatever else that lived in the back of the van. A very nice looking jet, sleek and white, waited for them just a few steps away. Out came Tony Stark.

"Everyone in!" he said, ushering them to the stairs. And in they all went, tripping over the items they lugged. Stark decided it felt nice to have that kind of trust, that they would pile into a billionaire's jet without a second thought. Also, they were being shot at. Stark threw flash bombs to dissuade the approaching vehicles, ran inside his jet and flopped into the cockpit. They were off the ground in seconds.

"I didn't give much thought to what I was going to do today, but this certainly was not on the list," Ian said weakly, heart pounding in his throat.

Darcy gave a frightened laugh, clinging to his arm.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., autopilot," Stark commanded, and his A.I. system took over. "Morning guys, want some breakfast? I have a couple of boxes of doughnuts in the mini fridge, sausage kolaches, danishes, doughnut holes, et cetera. Milk, coffee, orange juice. No? More for me, then." He wandered over to the bar and proceeded to stuff his face. Teagan joined him for another cup of coffee.

"Mr. Stark, I think it's best that you explain," Selvig muttered uneasily.

Stark looked around, as if surprised they expected him to talk. He swallowed and pulled up a holo-monitor. "Sorry for the whole explosion thing down there," he began. "Had to make it look like you guys were, you know, dead. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gone kind of crazy since the last time you were in town."

Teagan scoffed under her breath, sitting down.

Stark gave her a sarcastic look. "Yeah, shut up, Satan," he muttered.

"Oh, _that's_ a new one," she snorted.

"Children, please," Selvig said sternly. He turned to Jane. "I called you all the way out here because otherwise you wouldn't be safe. Those phone calls I'd been getting in England – it was Teagan. She was working under Mr. Stark for a while, coming up with a way to build a new Tesseract. S.H.I.E.L.D. almost caught whiff of it, so she destroyed her research and came to join me with mine."

"Keep me safe from what?" Jane asked.

"From S.H.I.E.L.D.," Stark said simply.

"But, isn't S.H.I.E.L.D. the good guys?" Darcy interrupted.

Stark gave a wry grin, pulling up some files on the monitor. "What were you doing on May 2nd, 2012, Ms. Foster?"

Jane frowned. "I was sent to Tromsø, Norway. Agent Coulson asked if I wanted to continue my research there."

"Right," said Stark. "Well, what I was doing on May 2nd, 2012, was hacking into the S.H.I.E.L.D. database from the Helicarrier. The whole gang was together, and Loki was in a lockbox in the wine cellar. I said I would know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. had ever tried to hide. Well, I missed a few things.

"Two days ago, I got a text from Nick Fury. He told me to go look into those files one more time. I thought, 'what the hell, April Fools,' right? But I was wrong. A little more digging and I found out the biggest secret of them all. Nine hours later, I got a call from Hill's not-sister, Other Hill. Fury's dead, unknown killer, and she's next in line for being head of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Steve and Natasha went off on a goose chase to hunt down the assassin. Banner went off the grid and the Hawk flew the coop, so to speak. All I have left is Prince Charming over here, and where he goes, you guys follow."

"I do not understand your desire for such secrecy," Thor finally spoke. "What danger do we face?" A small collective hum filtered out of the rest of the ignorant party.

Stark shot an abysmally despairing glance in the god's direction. "You guys. S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization here for the country's protection, is filled with HYDRA. Okay? _HYDRA_. The Nazi group that tried to use Tesseract technology to destroy the world. Cap's old girl Becky Carter helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect against them and other threats, but it's all gone to hell. It's chock full of neo-HYDRA members, and they've built helicarriers to kill off 'potential threats' by the millions. Every single one of us is on that list to be exterminated. HYDRA is going to take over and use S.H.I.E.L.D. as its cover."

"We must stop this HYDRA," Thor growled, gripping Mjølnir tightly. "I vowed to protect the nine realms. I cannot allow this genocide."

Stark nodded. "There's nothing we can do. Widow's been sending me texts every few hours to update on the situation. If we jump in to help them, it'll only speed up the death clock. We have to lay low, stay out of site. We can't risk blowing our cover." Stark leaned forward on his elbows and held his forehead in his hands. "There's nothing we can do but hide, and it kills me. Hiding isn't my style. I should be out there helping them. But I risk killing a huge percent of the population." He rubbed a hand through his hair and added, "I can't stand this."

"Where are we going?" Jane struggled out, hand over her mouth. She felt like she was going to be sick. That facility was probably trying to open a bridge to find a way to escape the slaughter while the rest of the population burned. Thor wrapped an arm around her protectively.

"Rose Hill, Tennessee," Stark answered. "Pepper's already there. We'll lay low with a friend of mine."

It took a few hours to reach Tennessee. They passed the time with small talk. Stark filled them in on what had happened during his Christmas. The Mandarin, Aldrich Killian, the destruction of the Miami mansion, the termination of the Iron Man suits, the surgery to remove the arc reactor from his chest. He made a few jabs at Teagan's interest in Killian's Extemis research, specifically the empty slot in the human brain. ("Luckily for Killian, your entire brain is an empty slot," she snapped.) Teagan mentioned her research on the Soul theory, and wondered what the Asgardians had done with the Tesseract. Thor merely stated that it would not be returning to Earth.

The jet landed seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They unloaded, leaving Selvig's equipment behind. A kid darted through the trees. "Hey, Tony!" he shouted.

"Harley, my man," Stark grinned. "I found some strays. Your mom making dinner tonight?"

"No way," Harley gasped, ignoring Stark. "It's Thor! Hey, can I see your hammer? Do you think I can lift it? How many bad guys have you killed? What's it like in Asgard? Can I go there?"

Thor was startled into laughter, hounded by this child's questions. "Yes, you can try, many, beautiful, and no," he tried, setting Mjølnir on the ground. Harley couldn't lift it.

A few minutes later, they joined Pepper in the barn. It was crowded with six adults and one child, but they were at the hospitality of Harley's mother.

Harley didn't stop talking until Stark locked him out.

"Nice to meet you," Pepper smiled, shaking hands with the two couples. "And it's good to see you again, Teagan. Erik."

They all offered their greetings.

"Oh, are you together?" Pepper wondered, looking at the rings on Darcy's and Ian's hands. They gave a sheepish smile.

"Engaged since March," said Ian.

"We were planning for November of next year, but since the world's going to explode," Darcy started, smile fading along with her words.

"Tony and I are engaged, too," Pepper nodded, looking down at her own hand. "Since January. We had a heck of an argument before we came to Tennessee. I was scared, and I threw the ring at the wall." She laughed, though tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever get it back. Not with those _things_ hovering over the Eastern Seaboard."

҉

The marsh was humid and sticky. Mud clung to him, threatening to pull him under and fill his lungs with the putrid stuff. He stood as a dead tree amidst all the others on this quiet, unsuspecting planet. The Chitauri would have trouble finding him here.

The Tesseract was hidden away with magic, but not far from Loki's reach. He had not vocally spoken for months. Siv paced around him, a thin little soul, a wisp in the corner of his eye. Metaphorically speaking; these trees did not have eyes. They felt the world's aura, sensing living creatures through the life they possessed. Siv's life force pounded wildly and in strange colors compared to the world of grey and white that Loki saw. Today, she could hardly contain herself.

_'What is wrong with you?'_ Loki thought angrily.

Siv looked up at him in distress. _'Please, go back to Asgard. There is something going terribly wrong in Midgard; the Tesseract needs to talk with Heimdall.'_

Loki could have scoffed. _'Things go terribly wrong in Midgard all the time. They are human.'_

Siv let out a quiet sob, crouched, curled over her knees in a little ball. For a moment, Loki wanted to go back to ease her strange fear. But then he remembered he hated her, and stood his ground.

_'You don't understand,'_ she protested through tears. _'When the humans took the Tesseract for the first time, they experimented on it. They harvested its power. Within the last fifty years, they have modified the power they stole to catalogue the soul. They have built machines to tear down the human civilization. And when the rest of Midgard is gone, they will modify it again and use it to destroy the other realms. Loki, please! Please go back to Asgard! You don't have to do anything about this war, you don't have to go back to Midgard, you don't have to deal with any more humans. You just have to go back to Asgard and give the Tesseract to Heimdall.'_

_'I will not,'_ he hissed._ 'If I go back with the Tesseract in hand, the Chitauri and Thanos will trace me there. Do you think I am so stupid that I will allow that to happen? Midgard is at risk, fine. But that's nothing compared to the others that still live on.'_

Siv nodded weakly. He was right.

His mentally softened, though still angry. _'For a thousand years, you haunted me with a Midgardian form. You couldn't once think to inhabit an Asgardian vessel? It would have been easier for the both of us if you would have just taken a peasant body, instead of a useless human._

'_Siv, Midgard could drown in blood and I would not care. When I first found out your truth, I thought saving that hero 'Steve Rogers' would bring you closer to me. Instead, you vanished. I was left to suffer alone as Thor took the crown. And then, for a while, I thought the human he fell in love with was you. Even now, I cannot shake that thought. I let myself fall from the Bifrost, fully expecting to die. Instead, I wound up on a strange rock filled with creatures that tortured me. I thought you had saved me again, only to make me suffer on that unforgiving rock. They shoved the shard into my chest. They made me see you as the death of me, and Siv, you _are_. When you sacrificed yourself as the shard returned to the Tesseract, I was relieved. I would never have to see you again. I would never have to worry. Because of that, I will not go to Heimdall. _

'_Not unless you tell me why you still exist.'_

In that moment, Siv felt the pangs of raw love and adoration.

҉

Tony's pocket buzzed with a text message. There was a tense silence as he read it aloud. "'Few hours of sleep. We've been patched. Falcon, Cap, and Widow headed to Triskelion. Flying to D.C. now. Widow infiltrating. Cap and Falcon given equipment that will stop Project Insight."

And then, a few moments later, "Will upload all of the information from the Lemurian Star onto the internet. Better clear out Stark Tower. Take cover in case we fail."

Harley knocked loudly on the barn door. "Hey, mom wants to know if you guys like lasagna!"

"Yeah," Stark responded. It was quiet as they waited for Harley to leave. Stark's voice was hardly above a whisper. "I'm going to New York. The rest of you get below ground. I built a shelter under the barn."

"Tony Stark," Pepper cried, "you are _not_ leaving me behind again!"

"I have to," he murmured. "If they fail, I won't make it back. I'll be wide open over there. You'll be safe here, I promise. The helicarriers can't reach this far away. Honey, please." He held her by the shoulders and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Please just do this for me."

"Hey, guys," Darcy spoke up, trying to smile. "It's Captain America. _And_ Black Widow. I don't even know the other guy, but come on. If the Avengers could stop an alien invasion in like three days, they can stop a bunch of psycho humans. Right?"

"She's right," Jane piped up. "We'll be fine. They won't win. They can't win."

Tony shook his head. "You can't come with me."

"Stark," Thor murmured kindly. "We are your friends. You have little say whether or not we follow you."

They boarded the jet and headed for New York without so much as a goodbye to Harley or Ms. Keener.

҉

_'The shard manipulated you to see what held your heart. For every person that was taken, they saw someone different. Clint Barton saw Natasha Romanoff. Erik Selvig saw Jane Foster. It magnifies the emotion they have for that person and feeds off of it. A hallucinogenic parasite. Thanos himself is possessed by the shard, even though it's been destroyed. He was under its spell for too long. There's no hope to save him. His lover, Death – she doesn't exist. The shard created her image for him because he loved death. I thought that joining with the shard would have broken the effects, but I was wrong. And the Tesseract saw I was wrong and pitied me, because I had given up chasing you to help you stop the war. So . . . she saved me._

_ 'I was cleansed of the unimportant vessels, the ones that saw you briefly or never saw you at all. I've been left with Siv and Clarice, and the knowledge that I have spent this time looking for you. I am 'alive' on a whim. When a soul goes to the heart of the Tesseract, it manually washes away our past lives and stores all of those memories in one place. They never go away. They never disappear. It uses those memories to catalogue the past and potentially the future. There are certain patterns in history that help predict the outcome of the future and for almost twenty thousand years, the End has been in production. This catalogue, this algorithm – it's what the humans have managed to tap into with their weapons._

_ 'The memories a soul collects are stored for eternity, but a soul itself can wear thin. Particularly the ones that split continuously. If they return to the Tesseract and then are deemed unfit to continue on, they become another layer of the cube. I should have been removed from circulation. I have split so many times since the dawn of life. Refusing to clean myself of memories should have meant the end for me. Loki, I don't know why I'm still me. I shouldn't be here. I should be one with the Tesseract, I should be a ghost– '_

_'You _are_ a ghost,'_ he thought sarcastically.

Siv gave a little smile. _'Ghost or not, I'll never have another vessel if you don't take the Tesseract to Heimdall.'_ She suddenly paled, in complexion and aura.

Loki would have narrowed his eyes if he could. _'Why do you say that?'_ he asked, words filling with venom.

Siv shook her head, staring behind and above him. _'The Chitauri are here. They've sent a squadron, a Leviathan. Please, we have to leave!'_

The tree shook and the branches stretched up into the sky. It uprooted and stormed through the marsh, off the cliff and down to the murky lake below. The Leviathan roared. The Chitauri screeched. From under the water, a huge barbed and purple tentacle shot up and wrapped around the Leviathan's muzzle. A horrendous beast filled the lake, a mass of poison and tentacles and teeth. Loki would not leave this time without a fight.

However, no matter how many of those putrid Chitauri he smashed away or ripped apart or injected with toxins, they kept coming. The beastly kraken that was the raven haired prince could find no end to them. It was then he noticed Siv shouting in the back of his mind. He could not see her, but she was there. He felt her like a presence within his own body.

_'You have to get out of here! Loki, they're never going to stop, you have to trust me! Find an opening and get out!'_

And then he saw through her eyes. Saw the power at work. The soldiers were nothing more than rotting corpses, reanimated to fight in an endless war against him. Under their skins, threading through their bones, gleaming in their eyes, a hollow green light filled that living death with Thanos' will. And while he fought desperately for a path to escape, Loki wondered just how many of the Infinity Gems Thanos had in his collection. He had only a moment to plan his next move – the Leviathan was diving headfirst toward the beast in the lake.

There was a huge flash of white hot light as Loki dissolved into a lightning beast. He slammed down a flat, stumpy foot and sent out a storm of electricity. The Chitauri and the Leviathan shuddered and collapsed; the lightning would not stun them for long. Loki became a great black hawk, spirited away through a portal made by the hidden Tesseract.

He would never admit to using a Thor-like method of attack.

Siv could not help but laugh.

_13:05_

_1.5.14_


	18. World of Red

**SPOILER ALERT**

**This chapter contains altered information of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.**

**If you have not seen the film, I strongly recommend not reading this chapter until you have.**

**(By the way, it's a fabulous movie.)**

* * *

The flight was uncomfortably tense. Selvig, Ian, and Darcy were rather content to stay behind in Rose Hill to eat lasagna with a chatty ten year old and hide out in a Stark-designed bomb shelter. They felt safe despite not knowing that it actually wouldn't save them.

Stark continued his attempt to dissuade Pepper from accompanying them, through talk of danger and death and explosions. She was afraid, but she refused to leave him. It infected Thor with the beginnings of doubt that he would not be able to keep Jane safe at his side. Despite this, he felt it unfair to rob her of the chance to save what she could of her world. Teagan joined simply because she felt compelled to witness the end of the earth.

When Stark grew tired of arguing with his fiancé, he turned to J.A.R.V.I.S., who held friendly conversation to soothe their minds. Pepper went to the bar and fixed up a light lunch for the travelers. No one was hungry enough to eat.

Thor found himself rubbing his wrists once more. When had he adopted this nervous habit? He did not wear his armlets, the status symbol of his kingdom. He did not have the comfort of the silver protecting his forearms. Did not feel the soothing softness of the red fabric wound tight underneath them as a cushion. Did not smell the old metal's many years of service. He was completely and utterly underdressed for this battle.

What battle?

He would not fight unless Jane was in immediate danger. His beloved hammer rested on the floor below his feet, polished and gleaming from its months without use. If anyone was going to battle, it would be Stark, alongside his comrades. But Anthony Stark, the Man of Iron, had no suit of red armor to protect him now. Destroying his legacy to please Virginia "Pepper" Potts was the ultimate symbol of love. He was as vulnerable as any other mortal.

Thor reconsidered his current battle strategy for the sake of his vow to protect.

"Okay, this may be the wrong time to bring this up," Teagan said, staring intently at the Asgardian across from her, "but I really need to know what happened to the Tesseract."

Thor shot her a look. "I've made it clear I will not discuss this with you," he responded.

"I'll tell you how Coulson is," she offered.

He let out a quiet and empty laugh. "A bribe of knowledge for knowledge. You almost remind me of Loki." Where Thor meant it as a sort of compliment, the humans took it as an insult. Teagan, however, remained unfazed.

"How's Coulson?" Stark said, looking up at them. "Dead."

Teagan gave a hollow smirk. "Funny how wonderful it sounds when you're wrong."

҉

As the fate of Midgard hung in the balance, Loki was locked in a portal at the literal edge of the universe, hurtling toward Asgard as fast as he possibly could. Siv could not contain herself in the back of his mind. She phased through stages of laughter, of tears, of fear. She had no vessel to help mute the emotions she choked on.

_'Schizophrenic,'_ he thought insultingly.

Siv whimpered and bit her metaphorical tongue.

Loki became his Aesir form and closed his eyes. Flying through the portal was next to useless and only provided him with the perception of increased speed. He split himself from his body, daring to wander astrally on this trip. Siv accompanied his mind's eye, guiding him safely through the universe as the Tesseract and his body shuttled off away from them. A journey that would have taken the humans a hundred thousand years took the astral forms mere seconds. This was one of the many powers of the mind of a higher form.

Blackness became blinding white as Loki and Siv tumbled into Midgard.

_'Where are we?'_ he asked.

_'We're on one of the helicarriers,'_ Siv whispered, as though it would have revealed their presence.

Loki looked down, past the image of his feet and through the rounded glass floor. The three ships rose slowly, awakening from a deep slumber to reign terror on the human population. _'What are we linked to?'_ he wondered. He was a master of magic, but every astral projection required a neural link. Neither one of them possessed a physical brain in this place. An echo of a siren and the crackles of gunfire slowly drifted into the helicarrier.

_'To him,'_ she said simply.

Captain America pulled his way up to the control center of the helicarrier. In a single step, Loki alighted on the metal bridge across from him, staring intently. _'The man out of time,'_ he murmured_. 'Is it not amusing that you would not be here today if I'd not rescued you out of greed? Who then would Midgard have turned to in this state of emergency?'_

Rogers paused, looked up, looked through the raven haired prince. His face fell and his jaw clenched in determination.

Behind Loki stood the Winter Soldier, Midgard's Harbinger of Death.

҉

Thor and Stark ran through the tower destroying numerous digital memory banks of unimaginable value. Jane, Pepper, and Teagan worked to save hundreds of thousands of files onto J.A.R.V.I.S's external hard drive.

"Take that!" Stark huffed, taking a baseball bat to one of his many computers. Working up a sweat was relieving, despite not actually needing to be so physical in destroying the memory banks.

Thor was grimly amused that his tiny swell of electricity could fry the whole room.

"Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted, voice warped as he struggled to communicate through the ruined electronics. "You are receiving a phone call from the chairwoman of the World Security Council. It's originating from the Triskelion. Shall I answer it for you?"

Tony grunted to the A.I. system, ignoring him. He stepped back and admired his handiwork. The place was a mess. "Oh, no way," he breathed, noticing a shiny red briefcase gleaming between the desk and the wall.

"What is it?" Thor asked, watching as Stark pulled it out of the wreckage.

Stark only grinned, dusting it off. He darted out of the room and down to the research level of the tower. "Look what I found," Stark sang, dancing his way through three very stressed women. The Aesir prince trudged along quietly behind him, Mjølnir in hand.

"No," Pepper said immediately.

"Do it," Stark ordered, holding it out to her. His playful demeanor vanished.

Teagan snickered under her breath. "I thought you'd destroyed them all to make yourself 'vulnerable and human'?"

If J.A.R.V.I.S. were human, he would have shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "I'm sorry, sir, but the councilwoman keeps calling. I took the liberty of observing through the caller's camera. It's Ms. Romanoff."

"Hello?" Stark answered quickly, putting the call on speaker.

"Stark!" Natasha shouted. Her voice exploded through Stark Tower.

"Shit," Stark hissed, flinching from the volume. "What's going on, are we safe? Have you uploaded the information yet? What's going on with Project Insight?"

"I couldn't get it uploaded! I needed another Alpha Level member – dammit! Give me minute!" she snarled. Gunshots echoed through the call. "I needed another Alpha Level member, the code, I couldn't break it. I took out Pierce but not for long. He's gonna be pissed when he wakes up – Christ, there's no end to these guys!" She stuffed the phone down her bra while she took out a team of HYDRA operatives.

Natasha's lack of a cool and controlled demeanor made Stark very uneasy. He set down the briefcase.

"I'm headed down to see Agent Hill. She's monitoring the helicarriers. What are you doing?"

"We're saving uselessly important global documents onto J.A.R.V.I.S.' external hard drive," Pepper spoke up.

"Sounds good," Romanoff chuckled dryly. "It's important to make copies of the 'uselessly important' papers of the world. What about you, Stark?"

"Wrecking shit in my tower," he answered with a wry smile. "If you make it out alive, why don't you grab the gang and head over to join the party? Thor's got his hammer and everything."

Romanoff let out a quick and tense laugh. "Yeah, and we can go for shawarma again. Oh, hold on – let me call you in a few minutes, Hill's yelling at me on my earpiece."

The line went dead. The five were silent.

"What do we do now?" Jane asked.

Stark rubbed his face in thought. He was tired. Too many battles, too many aliens, too many traumas. He felt his age crashing down on him all at once. "She probably ran into an encryption problem. I'll bet you my life I can crack it for her."

"You know me and bets," Teagan snorted. "You sure you want to wager your life at a time like this?"

"Shut up, Teen Wolf," Stark smirked, sitting down between Pepper and Jane. He cracked his knuckles. "Let's see what I can do."

While the mortals worked, Thor went back up to the databank room. The place was more than a mess; between the men, they'd ripped it apart. He raised his hammer and brought it down on a semi-intact computer tower. Sparks of lightning illuminated the room.

"I would not recommend using any more electricity down here, lest you start a fire," J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested, seeming slightly annoyed. The Aesir smiled apologetically at the air. He felt like a fool – where should he look to offer a silent gesture to the A.I.? There was no face provided for J.A.R.V.I.S., only a voice and a sense of omnipresence. "Thank you," said the voice, crackling. It was as if he understood Thor's confusion.

For human technology, the Aesir was very impressed with J.A.R.V.I.S.' responses.

Stark had only just begun to struggle through Triskelion's encryptions when the A.I. voice interrupted him again.

"Ms. Romanoff is on the phone for you again," said J.A.R.V.I.S., and he immediately patched her through to Stark. The digital servant courteously lowered the volume on the speaker.

"Stark, you've got to get the hell out," Natasha demanded sharply. All the weariness in the world weighed on her voice.

"What happened?" Stark asked, voice faltering.

"Cap failed. The Winter Soldier killed him. Confirmed death. He still had his headset on – Maria heard the whole damn thing, right up til the Soldier smashed his head through the bottom of the helicarrier and drowned 'em both in the Potomac."

"I'm sorry, guys," Maria murmured, joining the phone call. They could hear the tears in her voice.

"You did your best," Teagan said quietly.

"Little Hill, what are you doing here?" Maria asked, sharpening up. "You're supposed to be –!"

"It doesn't matter where I'm supposed to be, what matters is how long we have," she interrupted.

It was silent.

"How long do we have?" Thor pressured gently, joining the others. He stood beside Jane protectively.

"The countdown says fifteen seconds," Natasha muttered.

"Oh, God," Pepper whispered, terrified.

Stark stood immediately, activating the briefcase. It opened to reveal an iron suit, a remodeled version of the Mark V. "Put on the goddamn suit Virginia, you're not getting a scratch," he snarled. "J.A.R.V.I.S., lockdown."

The next few seconds were a blur.

The phone call was disconnected as J.A.R.V.I.S. lowered the steel barriers over the windows.

That was fine, because in the last fifteen seconds of her life, Natasha used the time to call Barton and tell his voicemail the only thing she was never brave enough to say, and Maria used the time to call Coulson and tell him Teagan said goodbye, because even if she hadn't, Maria figured she probably would have wanted to.

Despite the others blockading themselves in Stark Tower, the air inside crackled with a strange heat. J.A.R.V.I.S. wasn't quick enough to lower the barricades. Something kept the servant from being able to lower the slabs all the way, and it filled Thor with a despairing self-blame for electrocuting boxes randomly without paying attention. They could see the sky blacken with a storm of bullets like heat-seeking missiles from underneath half-closed walls.

Thor collected Jane, wielding Mjølnir against the shells that threatened the mortals' lives. He may have endangered them, but he would save them still.

Stark held onto Pepper for dear life, trying to pull her closer to the god in case he decided to leave. Teagan stood in the middle of them all, feeling each second pound in her chest, listening to the bullets fall like rain.

A portal ripped open over their heads.

Pepper Potts flipped open the helmet and bent down to pick up her engagement ring that glinted on the floor. A bullet shattered Teagan's right shoulder. Another tore straight through Stark's chest.

Jane shrieked.

Thor roared.

Pepper looked up to see Tony stumbling forward.

Through his gaping wound, she saw the Bifrost close and disintegrate.

Stark fell face first onto the floor with a sickening thud. He was already dead, heart pulverized. Pepper crawled over to him, held him in her metal-clad arms, and cried. Wept. Screamed. The bullets continued to rain down, each hitting their target, removing threat after threat. The cacophony of vehicle brakes, of shouts of terror, of pleas for help drowned Pepper's ears. In moments, her voice was cut short. A bullet found its mark on the only skin Pepper left un-armored.

"Ms. Potts!" J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke worriedly. The A.I. received no response. He gave what sounded like a sniff, monitoring the absence of vital signs. When he spoke again, his voice was tight. The servant mourned for the loss of his masters. "If you'll allow me, sir, ma'am . . . I am going to put the building on self-destruct mode." He received no orders otherwise. He set the music to something soft, a slow dance Stark had ordered he play on the night be proposed to Pepper. J.A.R.V.I.S. hummed along as Stark Tower went down in flames.

҉

Thor and Jane stood in Asgard's observatory in silence.

The mortal, perhaps too shocked or too upset to do anything else, stared into nothingness in mute horror. HYDRA had won. HYDRA had _won_. The faith Darcy, Ian, Erik – the faith they all put in the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D., the pure S.H.I.E.L.D., was misplaced. The Earth was gone and the information they'd spent an hour attempting to recover was on a brick of a flash drive back on Earth. Why had they even bothered? What was the point? Save it from HYDRA's attempt to remove history? _Stupid_. Tony, Pepper, _everyone_ died for nothing. The last memory Jane would ever have of Earth was the look of emptiness on Pepper's face when her fiancé fell dead, just before the rest of the planet faced Tony's fate.

Thor could not save any of them. He was prepared to protect them all, the whole blasted planet if he had to, because that was his vow, and just like that he was ripped from the realm he loved. Thor let out another roar of anguish, dropped his hammer, squeezed his eyes shut. He gripped handfuls of his hair. How could he call himself the protector of the realms? Who stole him away? The only one alive who had the power to control the Bifrost. "Heimdall!" he snarled, stepping back. "Heimdall, how dare you remove me?" That was when he stumbled over Teagan.

She gave a horrid wheezing sound, sputtering in pain at his feet. The mortal was curled in a crumpled heap; blood splattered her face, her clothes, the floor. Her shattered sternum and two and a half ribs were visible.

At this, Jane gagged and fainted. Thor caught her, held her tightly in his arms. His anger ebbed away to panic. It was no exaggeration to say that Teagan's blood was everywhere.

"The Tesseract," Teagan choked out, looking up. It glimmered behind Thor.

"I don't have it!" Thor shouted, frustrated with the dying woman. "I cannot help you!"

"Actually, you can," said Loki. "It's right here."

The unseen Siv whispered into his ear; Loki crinkled his nose in disgust. His lips moved, though no sound came out. He stepped around the Aesir prince and kneeled before Teagan, held the Tesseract out to her. Her fingers brushed the cube gently, staining the clear blue stone with her carmine-red prints. She shuddered and was still. No breaths escaped her.

Loki smirked.

Now, if that smirk was directed to the presumably dead mortal at his feet or the look on Thor's face, even he was not sure.

"Did you mourn?" Loki asked innocently.

It was then that Heimdall entered the observatory.

The humans were carted away to the healers and the brothers were left to quarrel inside the golden dome.

Just outside the observatory, Heimdall watched the destruction of Earth with a heavy heart. This race of mortals had such potential, if not for their ever-present fear and hatred for themselves. As an overseer, he knew this day would come. The power of the All-Sight was dangerous and unforgiving. He could not grieve for their collective death. But he was still the King of Asgard until Thor accepted the title, and as the protector of the nine realms, he was allowed to.

So, he did.

The helicarriers killed millions of people across the planet each second. Fires raged, wars were initiated, civilians trembled in the temples of their gods. Midgard spun chaotically around the only sun it had ever known. Soon, it became clear to the rest of the humanity that there would never be an end. The helicarriers never needed to come down, carrying a supply of enough ammunition to kill every person on the face of the earth. The algorithm installed in the systems of the great ships calculated how long it would take for each member of the planet to decide to revolt against Project Insight. Every person ever born was given their day of death.

On May 8th, 2014, the population was six billion and a half. Rebel factions sprang up across the world, all being shot down – literally – in a matter of minutes after voicing their anger. Wars raged in practically every country with an army. Theft, murder, rape all rose to an unbelievable all-time high, and then they plummeted. Whoever acted out against the interest of the helicarriers were assassinated where they stood.

On September 30th, 2014, the population was just over four billion. Steven Rogers was made a saint by the Vatican. A statue was secretly erected in his name, though the helicarriers had long predicted that outcome. One by one, religious leaders and rebel warriors were struck off the list. Those that still lived, lived in constant fear. They called the helicarriers "The Fates", after three women in Greek Mythology. One spun the thread of life, another measured it out, and the third cut it. The living population felt that story become very much a part of their everyday life, knowing that one wrong move and they would be assassinated right then and there. No one was safe. They called it the Apocalypse. Judgment Day. The Ragnarök, even. They had no idea how right they were.

On February 9th, 2016, the population was down to three billion. A journalist by the name of Samuel Sanders made a jab at the other-worldly hero Thor on his talk show. "If he really wanted to save us, he would have come to destroy The Fates by now. It's been two years. Where is he? No one's seen him since that mess with the aliens in Greenwich. The Fates are invincible, and here to protect us. Crime rates have practically vanished. Wars are nonexistent. World hunger doesn't even exist anymore because now there's enough for everyone. . . ."

On July 16th, 2019, the population was barely a billion. Four members caused the simultaneous murders of the last rebel group, "Anonymous". They discussed the possibility of hacking into The Fates' mainframes and destroying them from the inside; moments after the words left their mouth, they were assassinated. And after them, the rest of their giant group. The Fates were not programmed to take chances.

The terror lasted for six years, eight months, and twenty two days. The few hundred thousand people that still lived saw the last Christmas dawn they would ever witness. Help was long since a forgotten idea. They were all condemned to death. They were all cowards. Every human that ever had an ounce of bravery was long dead. For six years, eight months, and twenty two days, they were in desperate need of a hero. Earth had a surprising abundance of them, yet none were ever able to take down the Fates. What they really needed was a god. The humans had no idea why Thor was suddenly so quiet, why he suddenly never showed up to save them. All they knew was that they didn't. And for that, they would never forgive him.

On that morning of December 25th, 2022, an army came down from the sky and collected The Fates. The leader was a giant, a celestial being, a man as crimson as this world of red. This planet drowned in blood. He promised them safety, away from this wretched life their own leaders had created. If they would fight in his war, they would be offered freedom from fear. And every human left knew he lied through his teeth, but their desire to live outweighed the obvious enslavement to this creature.

After collecting the last of the mortals, Thanos set fire to the whole of Midgard.

0:50

6.5.14

**Will Continue in Time Trilogy Part III: Time is Vindictive**

* * *

Wow okay so hi everyone? Thank you SO much for reading this far, I can't tell you how much it means to me. I know it's dragged on for quite a while but we're coming to a close! As I did at the end of Part I, I'm going to take a brief hiatus and rewrite some chapters. I'll do the announcement thing like I did last time, too, to let you know what's been added. I'm also headed back to school at the end of the month, so I may or may not have to slow down on how quickly I post a chapter. (We'll cross that pineapple when we come to it.) Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to all the continued support I get, and I hope we can see this through to the end!


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